It's a darn shame that some issues are being brought up for vote. Because they're more than issues, they're principles. And I don't think that the rights of some should be subjected to the whims of others.
Something that should never be brought to a vote is this attempt to limit the rights of a minority. The minority under attack from the Wrongs this week is the LGBT community who have members who would like nothing more than to legally marry. To wed. To simply exchange vows, perhaps rings, and by that act, be entitled to the rights and privileges that the wedded, nonLGBT community gets to take for granted every single day.
Individual rights are not subject to a public vote: a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority. The political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities.
So says, of all people, Ayn Rand - noted conservative author.
There are rights - the inalienable ones - that we are supposed to be entitled to by birth.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;
- Thomas Jefferson
From this site...http://usinfo.state.gov/...
Comes this...
Inalienable rights include freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion and conscience, freedom of assembly, and the right to equal protection before the law...Since they exist independently of government, these rights cannot be legislated away, nor are they subject to the momentary whim of an electoral majority.
How dare our lawmakers even attempt to deny a minority's right to their pursuit of happiness and freedom of conscience? How can this travesty bear the light of day? We must support the rights of all minorities because...
First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up, because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time,
there was no one left to speak up for me.
They're coming...