Proposition 8 and the Legitimacy of Democracy

A crucial test of whether society will defend true marriage with the full support of the civil law or disregard the expressed will of the people.

BETHPAGE, TN (Catholic Online) - How about waking up to discover national elections are being overturned in the court system due to the "unconstitutional" motivations of voters? That's the story in California as the legal battle between pro-marriage Californian voters and two same-sex couples seeking to overturn Proposition 8 awaits a ruling. Proposition 8 is the ban on gay 'marriage' that passed in the state in 2008 by 52% of voters.

Aren't All Beliefs Irrational to the Opposition?

The plaintiffs' legal claim centered on the argument that Proposition 8 should be thrown out, in part, because it was victorious due to "irrational" religious "prejudice and hostility," generated by discriminatory "messaging" offered by a broad coalition of religious groups whose faiths oppose homosexuality. Mormons, evangelical Protestants and Catholics all actively united in their support of the Proposition.

Legal discrimination against gays, it was said at trial -- in particular rules banning homosexual "marriage" -- begins with simple prejudice in the form of religious views about the morality of homosexuality itself. Specifically cited as evidence of "prejudice and hostility" toward what the plaintiffs' legal team characterized as a "powerless" homosexual "minority" was a section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other Catholic teachings on homosexuality.

Such a claim of "religious prejudice" also ignores overwhelming scientific evidence that children born and reared in families with heterosexual married parents are healthier - and the implications this all has for the children and for our society.

And claims of "minority status," for the homosexual community fly in the face of the $3.4 million more that homosexual activists raised in their attempt to defeat Prop.8 at the ballot box in 2008. In addition, it fails to consider the strategic positioning of the trial in California, arguably one of the most 'gay-friendly' states in the union. California, and San Francisco specifically (in which the trial was located), has led the nation down the road of homosexual relativism and activism since the 60's.

Both sides see this case as a crucial test of whether society can insist that heterosexual marriages are worthy of the full support of the law in ways that other unions are not. But if the Proposition is overturned, then the "motivations," religious or otherwise, of voters in every future election or referendum will be in question, under scrutiny, and at the risk of legal challenge, at taxpayer expense, when the vote is decided against constituency or individual preference.

The Litmus Test for Legitimacy

Free Catholic PDF's - Home / Parish / School / Bulletin Inserts

Since when do the motivations or beliefs of voters have anything to do with whether an election or other democratic decision is valid? The whole point of democracy is that the people have the right even to be wrong at the ballot box. How can the validity of an American democratic election or referendum be called into question based on subjective and unprovable beliefs, reasons, and motives for peoples' votes? How do they know Californians voted for Prop. 8 out of prejudice? Did they ask every single voter?

Imagine the last Presidential election having been decided in favor of John McCain, and individuals in the African American community suing to overturn the election on the grounds that it was "irrational," and "discriminatory and prejudicial" to African Americans. How much taxpayer money would be used to prove such a position? Would they phone every voter to ask their reasons for their positions when voting?

Such a trial illustrates the overwhelming condescension contemporary liberalism holds for non-liberal voters of any kind. It is simply the latest example of the anti-Christian sentiment that threatens to undermine the very foundation of our democracy and society.

-----

Sonja Corbitt is a Catholic Scripture teacher, study author and speaker. She is a contributing writer for Catholic Online. Visit her at www.pursuingthesummit.com and www.pursuingthesummit.blogspot.com.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'