P Marie C
03-26-2004, 03:16 PM
I like this guy! What do you guys think? A friend of mine wrote a letter to all her state reps, and got a response from one of them, as follows:
I wrote to my state legislators who were making a move to ban gay marriage in Arizona. Here's the reply from one of them...and the reason I'm not moving from this normally Republican state:
***************************
Dear -----,
Thank you for your email opposing HCM2004, (One Man One Woman Bill). I voted against it. I wish to share with you, the explanation of my vote.
EXPLANATION OF REP. TED DOWNINGS VOTE ON HCM2004
The Arizona legislature is not empowered to change history nor facts. As a professional anthropologist, I can assure you that the evidence shows, in contradistinction to the HCM2004 preamble, that one man/one woman marriage is neither universal "since time began" nor unchanging. Marriage entered the English lexicon in the 14th century, derived from the French word marier. Marriage represents a variety of contractual unions...but the nature of that contract has evolved and changed within each culture and across cultures. It was once a binding of kin and social groups, often without the consent of the individuals and still is in some parts of the world. And the state and Church have a history of manipulating marriage rules as a way to control property rights.
We must look at HCM2004 within an historic and civil rights context. The state no longer relegates women to be second class citizens in marriage, as they once were. Within my lifetime, the state no longer forbids marriage between different races. Each step in this evolution has been more inclusive...recognizing rather than restricting our civil and human rights. Puritans did not found this country, in contradistinction to what the preamble to the proposed Resolution claims....Adams, Hamilton and Jefferson would cast a resounding NO to this proposition. They are not here...but I, a lineal descendent of the American revolution - whose Mother's DAR certificate hangs on my wall in the legislature, I am here. And I vote a resounding no.
Ted Downing
State Representative
LD28 Tucson
******************************
Guess who's going to continue to get my vote for as long as he wants to run for office?
You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence.- Charles Austin Beard
I wrote to my state legislators who were making a move to ban gay marriage in Arizona. Here's the reply from one of them...and the reason I'm not moving from this normally Republican state:
***************************
Dear -----,
Thank you for your email opposing HCM2004, (One Man One Woman Bill). I voted against it. I wish to share with you, the explanation of my vote.
EXPLANATION OF REP. TED DOWNINGS VOTE ON HCM2004
The Arizona legislature is not empowered to change history nor facts. As a professional anthropologist, I can assure you that the evidence shows, in contradistinction to the HCM2004 preamble, that one man/one woman marriage is neither universal "since time began" nor unchanging. Marriage entered the English lexicon in the 14th century, derived from the French word marier. Marriage represents a variety of contractual unions...but the nature of that contract has evolved and changed within each culture and across cultures. It was once a binding of kin and social groups, often without the consent of the individuals and still is in some parts of the world. And the state and Church have a history of manipulating marriage rules as a way to control property rights.
We must look at HCM2004 within an historic and civil rights context. The state no longer relegates women to be second class citizens in marriage, as they once were. Within my lifetime, the state no longer forbids marriage between different races. Each step in this evolution has been more inclusive...recognizing rather than restricting our civil and human rights. Puritans did not found this country, in contradistinction to what the preamble to the proposed Resolution claims....Adams, Hamilton and Jefferson would cast a resounding NO to this proposition. They are not here...but I, a lineal descendent of the American revolution - whose Mother's DAR certificate hangs on my wall in the legislature, I am here. And I vote a resounding no.
Ted Downing
State Representative
LD28 Tucson
******************************
Guess who's going to continue to get my vote for as long as he wants to run for office?
You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence.- Charles Austin Beard