The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 29, 2004 - 5 PAID ADVERTISEMENT J u FIVE REASONS TO VOTE YES FOR TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE ON NOVEMBER 2 H omosexual lobbyists and their allies say there is no need to amend the state constitution since there are plenty of laws to protect marriage in Michigan. They claim there is no threat to marriage! This is false! The truth is that marriage is under attack in Michigan and across America. You need to vote YES on November 2 to protect marriage! Vote YES to amend Michigan's constitu- tion and define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Reason #1 - We cannot allow marriage to be redefined by activist judges Activist judges are redefining marriage as the union of two "persons" without distinction of gender. With this new definition, Massachusetts judges ruled that two men or two women can "marry." Encouraged by the Massachusetts court decision, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issued 4,000 marriage licenses to same-sex couples that were later invalidated. Other mayors and officials have followed suit. Activists across the nation are challenging state laws in the courts right now. If we do not amend our state constitution to clearly define marriage as the union of a man and a woman, what happened in Massachusetts and California can happen here. Reason #2 Marriage = One Man and One Woman ONLY! Civil government does not create civil marriage for the simple reason that it does not create marriage. Marriage is a social reality that predates the state and therefore cannot orig- inate from it. Without marriage, there would be no family, and without the family, no society would be formed. What the government does in civil marriage is to recog- nize the civil effects of marriage. But this recognition must respect the nature of the institution and the procreative end for which it exists. By the very fact that the civil government is not the author of marriage (the author is nature itself and, through nature, the Creator), it can alter neither the essence nor appearance of marriage. Reason #3 Same-sex "marriage" destroys the concept of marriage To say that redefining marriage by giving married status to homosexual unions does not harm heterosexual marriage is to deny the social nature and the public aspect of this insti- tution. Marriage is the permanent sacred bond uniting a man and a woman who desire to constitute a family and face life's tri- als together. Redefining marriage as simply a union between two peo- ple regardless of sex defeats the very purpose of marriage - the perpetuation of the species - and therefore destroys the very idea of the institution of marriage. This new idea of "marriage" reduces and degrades all marriage to a more or less stable cohabitation of two people. It empties the term of content. 9r Reason #4 - Science does not corroborate the myth that homosexuality is genetic As much as scientists have tried, nobody has been able to prove in any conclusive study that "Like homosexuality is genetic. No sci- entist has found a homosexual thought that hon gene. In fact, most studies have behavior could b found exactly the contrary - there is no scientific evidence for innate but sexual orien homosexuality. could not be cha If homosexuality were genetic, now believe than we would expect identical twins, who share the exact same genetic some people can code, to have identical attitudes change." towards homosexuality. This is - Dr. Rc frequently not the case. If homosexuality were genetic, dominant, irreversible, then no one could resist it or change even if desired. The incontestable fact, however, is that psy- chological therapy has proven successful in diminishing, and in many cases even eliminating undesired same-sex attrac- tion. This is acknowledged even by Dr. Robert L. Spitzer who led the campaign inside the American Psychiatric Associaton to discontinue listing homosexuality as a psychi- atric disorder: "Like most psychiatrists, I thought that homo- sexual behavior could be resisted, but sexual orientation could not be changed. I now believe that's untrue - some people can and do change." ("Prominent Psychiatrist Announces New Study Results: 'Some Gays Can Change,"' www.narth.com/docs.spitzer2.html.) Reason #5 Traditional Marriage is in the plans of God. God wants men and women to cooperate with Him in the creation of new human life. It was God who instituted mar- riage and He did this in Paradise: "And God created man to hhiah most be re tatic znge ('s u ian .obert his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. And God blessed them saying: Be fertile and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all liv- ing creatures that move upon the earth." (Gen. 1:27-28); "Wherefore a man shall leave father ists, I and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and exual they shall be two in one flesh." (Gen. 2:24). esisted, on ed. I You need to vote YES on November 2 and amend the Michigan constitution to place the :ntrue - sacred institution of marriage beyond the reach d do of activist judges. If same-sex marriage is passed here, it will be taught in our schools. L. Spitzer Clergy will be pressured to remain silent on this important moral issue. Here's how you can help: / Vote YES on November 2 to protect marriage. / Encourage your relatives and friends to Vote YES on November 2. / Order your personal copy of Defending a Higher Law, a precious guide for individuals and families who want to protect traditional marriage for the next generation. Want more information? Want to get involved? Contact: Citizens for the Protection of Marriage Protect Marriage Yes! 112 E. Allegan Street, Suite #600 Lansing, MI 48933 (248) 477-1043 www.protectmarriageyes.org With the same-sex "marriage" debate heating up all across the country, the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) is enter ing into the cultural fray with Defending a Higher Law, a compelling new book, which clearly spells out why pro-family America must react. Written by TFP's Committee on American Issues, the 212-page book is a much- needed defense of traditional marriage based on Catholic tradition and natural law. "A handbook for those who wish to engage in this debate from a Catholic perspective" - The Most Reverend Elden Francis Curtiss, Archbishop of Omaha, Nebraska "There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family. IAlrin, sa 2, L1, lAlhll4W 10 L i3'fr'1iiian ! ,ai ,cthenatural mnal lmw_ " -----------------------------------------------------------------------------J '*? Q: _____:t?3 For a FREE Copy of Defending A Higher Law 2 YES! Please rush me my FREE copy of Defending a Higher Law ($2.00 donation for S&H) Q I'm a college student. Q I'm enclosing $2.00 for postage expenses. Mr./Mrs./Miss Address City ST Zip w I i