The Savage Republican
- Skip Navigation :
- Home :
- Contact Info :
- Ella's Adventures :
- T-Shirt :
- About :
Remember, Being a Savage Republican is not where you are from, but what you believe.
Editorial:
By Robert Thibodeaux
Saturday, August 14, 2004
The country was founded on the principles that we are endowed by our creator with certain rights – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – and government is formed to keeps these rights secure. Government, only under special circumstances, and with just cause, interferes with these rights. For example, you cannot lose your life or freedom without due process through a court of law. Unfortunately, people have confused wants and needs with rights. You do not have a right to insurance. You have a right to live. It is also in a just society’s best interest to help keep you alive. Thus we have institutions like churches to assist with the poor and needy, agencies like CAP to help with the hungry, and hospitals which provide healthcare for those who cannot afford it. It is society’s responsibility and duty to help those who are needy, not the government’s responsibility. In fact, government interference in many of these issues has brought us to where we are today.
Similarly, you do not have a right to marriage. If so, my single friend should run down to the capitol and demand that the government produce him a wife.
As the recent court case in the state of Washington illustrated, a single judge can strike down a law passed by the legislator and the citizens he/she represents. Why should one person be given the authority to overrule the laws set forth by our duly-elected representatives? Only a constitutional amendment can prevent this sort of “legislation from the bench” where judges turn a small vocal group’s desires into rights. So, how do our elected officials and candidates stand on the issue of maintaining the institution of marriage? Our representative Mark Buesgens believes that the citizens of Savage and the State of Minnesota should be allowed to vote on this issue. He has supported placing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the state constitution and before the voters. Since his opponent did not have any reference on her web page to this issue, I did a little research. Her campaign is run by the University DFL president who said he does not think DOMA is appropriate at any level of government. Also, the Queer Student Cultural Center where she served as Co-Chair has made strong statements against the DOMA, as did the workshops at the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference where she was a speaker in 2004.
But is the work done if DOMA is finally voted on and passes? Is that the end of the story? Unfortunately not. For this is only a chapter in an already large document on the erosion of marriage. For the truest defense of marriage, we must start at home. Fathers must teach your daughters what a true man is like by example. We must teach them that a woman’s right to choose is not about the ability to kill an unborn child, but the choice to have respect for herself and expect the same from the men she socializes with. Sons should respect their dates and treat them as ladies, not as “a fun time.” We are not animals, and just because we have an impulse or a desire, we do not need to act on it. A man should respect his wife and when the going gets tough, fight harder for her. I read with sadness about Lance Armstrong’s divorce from his wife. While I do not know the circumstances and do not presume to judge their hearts, it made me sad. Here is a man who fought back from the brink of death from cancer by putting all his effort into it and he recovered. He then worked and trained and won more victories in a row in the Tour de France than any other cyclist. When he faces the mountains that make his opponents collapse and fail, he presses on with ease. In his own words, the reason he is able to do that is that he trains year-round, not just before the race. And yet with all that strength, with all that determination and all that training, he and his children lost the most important race – his family. This should be a wake up call to everyone. For a true Defense of Marriage, we must all train year-round. We must train, so that we can work together to fight over those mountains that come in any marriage. And when we overcome those challenges – together we can enjoy that exhilarating ride down the other side.
(Robert Thibodeaux is one of about a dozen people in the Savage community who write for Community Voices. This column features a different writer each week and is one of several opinion and commentary pieces appearing regularly in this newspaper.)
Reprinted with permission of the Savage Pacer
http://www.savagepacer.com