Marriage Protection Amendment Forced to Go on August Ballot

Marriage Protection Amendment

Forced to Go on August Ballot

Church Needs to Rally to Protect Marriage as Ordained by God

Commentary by Jim Day

St. Louis MetroVoice

Governor Bob Holden, along with Attorney General Jay Nixon and six of the seven Missouri Supreme Court Justices, have pulled a fast one by forcing Missouri’s Secretary of State, Matt Blunt, to place one of the most critical changes to Missouri’s Constitution in decades on the August 3rd Primary ballot.

The good news is that the proposed change (a constitutional amendment) strengthens Missouri’s ban on same-sex marriages by inserting into Section A, Article 1 of our state's constitution the words “That to be valid and recognized in this state, a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman.” The bad news is that Holden, Nixon, their buddies on the Supreme Court and their homosexual supporters are counting on a small voter turnout for the August Primaries to defeat the proposed amendment.

August v. November Elections

So, what difference does it make which election -- the August 3rd Primary or November 2nd General – has the amendment on the ballot? There are over 1.5

million reasons why it makes a difference!

According to Kerry Messer of Missouri Family Network, during the 2000 election cycle over 1.5 million Missourians did not vote in the August Primary elections. Historically speaking, Primary voters are generally more politically involved and motivated but smaller in number compared to the number of voters in General elections. General election voters (those who do not vote in Primary elections) are typically less involved or motivated - but are generally quite conservative. These 'less involved' voters are often not as sensitive to or knowledgeable about public policy debates even though they tend to reflect more traditional values. As a general rule, these 1.5 plus million Missouri voters would be the lion's share of the 'YES' vote to protect the institution of marriage this coming November.Governor Holden knows that by having this critical constitutional amendment on the August Primary ballot, as opposed to the November General Election ballot, he and his homosexual supporters could possibly defeat the amendment. He knows full well that the focus in November will be on the state-wide office and presidential races, which will draw more voters to the polls who won't be able to overlook the Marriage Amendment and vote YES for it. So, the obvious political move was to make sure the amendment would be buried on the August ballot.

Although Holden, Nixon and their friends on the Supreme Court haven't expressed it publicly, they have in essence, through their political maneuvering, said; ”We could care less about the decades of legal and centuries of social precedent supporting the God ordained institution of marriage! We don't care if the overwhelming majority of Missouri citizens favor traditional marriage! WE DON'T WANT THEM TO VOTE ON THIS ISSUE!"

Why? Once you get past the smoke screen of legal and technical excuses the answer is quite simple. So they can protect their political alliances and pay back their homosexual supporters who wish to ultimately destroy the traditional family and traditional institution of marriage – that's why!

Governor Bob Holden

Gear Up for the Battle

Without a doubt, homosexual activists have started gathering their troops for the August 3rd battle. In fact, according to PROMO's web site (Personal Rights Of Missourians – Missouri's statewide homosexual activist organization) only minutes after the amendment was passed by the House, a new committee called the Constitution Defense League went into action to set up training sessions on how to identify voters who support their position and how to recruit volunteers and raise money to defeat the amendment. PROMO's front line troops will consist of members of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) the group that's been establishing 'clubs' for children in our elementary and secondary public schools to educate them on the 'gay' lifestyle, the Human Rights Campaign and other such homosexual activist groups. Undoubtedly they will be joined by every radical, left-wing, socialist voter they can muster from the ranks of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), People for the American Way, Planned Parenthood, the National Education Association and the like.

It will be up to the Church and pro-family folks (regardless of their party affiliation) to make sure Missouri's Marriage Amendment gets passed in August. Missouri Family Network and the St. Louis MetroVoice strongly urge every Missouri citizen to make sure you're registered to vote in the August 3rd Primary. We want every citizen to have the opportunity to vote in favor of this ballot measure which will constitutionally define marriage as ONLY being the union of one man and one woman. The deadline for registering is July 7, 2004. If you don't register, you can't vote.

Although time is short, we encourage every church to start a voter registration drive and get people registered. We urge pastors to inform their congregations – from the pulpit – of their responsibility as Christian citizens to get involved in this battle to protect the family and preserve the institution of marriage as God has ordained it. Whatever it's going to take to make sure the Marriage Amendment passes on August 3rd must be done if we are to protect and strengthen the institution of traditional marriage in Missouri. There are NO gray areas in this issue! You are either for the traditional one man one woman marriage or against it!

And, for those pastors or lay leaders who are fearful of being attacked by the ACLU – forget the ACLU! This is about an ISSUE…not a candidate or political party! The ACLU cannot stop you from telling your congregants – from the pulpit – to vote YES for this amendment.

End Note

For those who wish to do more than vote, go to the Coalition to Protect Marriage in Missouri web site, which is www.cpmm.net, and volunteer your time or resources. I would also encourage you to support Kerry Messer. As mentioned earlier, Kerry is President of Missouri Family Network (MFN) and serves as a policy representative for the Missouri Baptist Convention, Christian Life Commission. MFN is a statewide networking organization which represents the traditionally conservative pro-family community and has defended the traditional family for over twenty years in various public policy arenas around the state and in the General Assembly. He provides a much needed voice for the conservative community and is one of the most recognized opponents of the contemporary homosexual movement. For more information regarding MFN call (573) 483-2007 or write to MFN, P.O. Box 1288, Festus, MO 63028.