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2 Views of Proposition 22

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Marriage is an institution designed to recognize the lifelong commitment of two people to love, care for, support and protect each other. Our laws recognize this union. Insurance companies and hospitals recognize the interrelatedness of the two people and provide joint benefits and bestow joint responsibilities.

It is important to protect the institution of marriage. But I can’t help wonder how Proposition 22 would do that. A yes vote would prevent an entire group of people who have made this lifelong commitment from being married. There is simply no logic in saying that to protect marriage you prevent people from being married.

So what is it that the “Yes on 22” people are trying to protect? Is it their religious beliefs that teach them to discriminate? Is it some sort of exclusive club that only the right kind of people may belong to--like the old days when only white people could belong to a country club? Do they just want to prevent other people from getting what they have?

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Or is it just simple ignorance, bigotry and hatred?

How can it possibly harm the institution of marriage to have many more people declaring their support for it by becoming married people?

If you plan to vote yes on Proposition 22, ask yourself what it really is you are voting yes on--and be honest about the fact that you are really not voting to protect marriage, you are voting to deny marriage to lots of people who really should be married.

STEVE BAILEY

Ventura

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I believe that a society is only as strong as its permanent, heterosexual, monogamous marriages.

Consider the changes in America in the past 40 years. We changed from having one of the lowest prison populations to having one of the highest incarceration rates in the world and 80% of the inmates come from families with broken marriages or no marriages.

The teen suicide rate has more than tripled from 1960 to today. During this same period the divorce rate tripled and the number of children living in homes with broken marriages increased from 8% to 24%. We can have the best schools in the world but if a child is not loved, cared for and protected at home he will almost never succeed in school.

I am coming to believe that the most important factor in achieving a successful, safe and prosperous society is the strength of our marriages. Children are delicate and tender and need most of all to have a father and a mother who love each other and are committed to providing them a safe, permanent home to grow up in. If the male or female influence is missing in a child’s life it is much more difficult for that child to grow up to be a balanced, contributing member of society.

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The decline in health of American society is directly tied to our reduced support of permanent marriages. It began with no-fault divorce and the acceptance of premarital and extramarital sex. If we do not approve Proposition 22, the Protection of Marriage Act, we will further undermine marriage.

We keep trying to cure the symptoms of America’s increasing social problems. We need to attack the cause, which is the deterioration of marriage. We should support and encourage strong, permanent, heterosexual, monogamous marriages. These are the families where it is proven that children do the best.

BERT J. RAPP

Oak View

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