Why I am voting "Yes" on question 2. Marriage between a man and women is an institution that perpetuates generations of mankind. By nature, procreation is inherent within that institution. Also associated with marriage, is an intrinsic sense of duty to offspring. With the love and example of both the father and mother, a child grows with the confidence to repeat the cycle that is genetically within. In this pattern of living, children learn their identity and develop respect for life and its continuation.
Fulfillment is found only when absolute principles of human behavior are followed. Humans cannot change the absolutes that make them tic, no matter what philosophy is thrown at it. Great nations have come into existence because of individuals who are founded on absolute principles. On the contrary, great nations fall when individuals collectively choose counterfeits in place of absolutes. There are many counterfeits to marriage. These imitations steal away our identity.
We are a nation struggling with our identity. We are moving away from absolutes. Morality, or the lack thereof, is at the heart of it. Same sex relationships are another piece of evidence of our identity crises. What are fathers and mothers? Where are sons and daughters? What is a grandchild?
This relationship has no power to preserve or continue life. It is an empty "alternative lifestyle" that cannot pass on any amount of dignity, respect or good to the future, because by nature, it has no power to create future generations. It is a lifestyle that, by nature, can only satisfy itself. It is the epitome of self-indulgence.
Our identity and the identity of future generations begin with husbands and wives who become mothers and fathers. In this union there is however, no end to mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. It is a union that has always been, with the power to always be.
The notion that a same sex relationship and a marriage are equally weighted fails when the two are compared. One cares for and nurtures the raising generation; the other is only self-serving. Marriage allows for the extension of human life, the other is genocide. Great nations are made of people who know who they are and pass it from generation to generation. The laws of great nations protect institutions that pass along that greatness. That is why the identity and definition of marriage must be protected, therein lies our future.
MITCH COHEN
Carson City
