*PROPOSITION 8 AND OUR FREEDOM OF RELIGION

As moms, we favor Proposition 8 because we feel it protects the rights of our children along with their innocence. In our past postings, we have focused a great deal on the impact of Proposition 8 on our schools.

Freedom of religion is another issue that is dear to us. We feel that failure to pass Proposition 8 will restrict our freedom of religion and our freedom of speech when we express our religious beliefs. We have observed a number of cases where these freedoms have been diminished over the issue of same-sex marriage. Think about the following:

Catholic Charities was forced out of the adoption business for the first time in 100 years because it would not place children with a homosexual couple. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/03/10/catholic_charities_to_halt_adoptions_over_issue_involving_gays/

In Ocean Grove, New Jersey, a Methodist group was stripped of part of its state real estate tax exemption for refusing to permit a civil union ceremony at the beachfront pavilion it owns.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyid=91554986

In Canada, A Catholic priest is under criminal investigation under a “hate crimes” law for quoting from the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Pope John Paul II’s encyclicals during Canada’s same-sex debate.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=page.printable&pageld=66247

A Lutheran school in Riverside county has been sued for expelling twoallegedly lesbian students.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/september/6.20.html

A Christian gynecologist at North Coast Women's Care Medical Group inVista, California declined to provide in vitro fertilization treatment to a lesbian patient on the grounds that doing so would violate the doctor’s religious beliefs. Although the doctor referred the patient to another partner in her practice who agreed to do the procedure, the patient still sued and won. The judge also recommended the doctor find a new line of work. In order to respect the religious views of the doctor, the clinic no longer provides in vitro fertilization to any of its patients.
http://tinyurl.com/GaySuesDR

The decision that made same-sex marriage legal in California conferred upon gay couples a "a protected legal class" under the law. This means that when the perceived civil rights of gay couples conflict with our constitutionally protected freedoms, our freedom of religion and freedom of religious speech will lose. Gays constitute 2% of California's population. We do not believe it is right for their concerns to trump constitutional rights which are foundational to the freedoms that 100% of Californians enjoy as citizens of the United States.

We agree with Orson Scott Card, who wrote that our state is “proceeding headlong into a vast social experiment whose consequences, as far as we can see, risk serious damage to many in order to create only the most marginal benefit for a few”.