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toxic515 · 05-30-2003, 12:14 PM

This issue is a great deal more clear cut that it seems.

The fact is, the word marriage isn't in the constitution that I can find... neither was privacy... That's because our constitution is NOT about what people can do, but about what GOVERNMENT can do. Read up on your bill of rights when you get a chance.. and pay particular attention to 9 and 10.

I'll list them here for your convenience...

Amendment IX:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

well, so what?.. you might ask. Well so right there before you, in the form of a couple of 200+ year old phrases captures the essense of how the government should, or CAN legally approach the issue of gays, etc. The government has no power to tell people what to do except in areas specifically authorized in the Constitution.

That means it has no right to tell people whether or not they can engage in homosexual acts; no right to invade our privacy; no right to manage our health-care system; no right to tell us what a marriage is; no right to run our lives; no right to do anything that wasn't specifically authorized in the Constitution.

(Notice also that nowhere in the Constitution does it say that government may violate the Bill of Rights if the target of its wrath is a non-citizen. Government isn't authorized to jail non-citizens indefinitely or deny them due process of law. There's a good reason for that, but that's another thread elsewhere, probably named something witty like "patriot act" or something...)

on a sidebar... Being realistic, a marriage is (legally) pretty much just like forming a business.. If I happened to be gay and live in a state that all that was a problem, I suspect I'd form a corporation with the most blatantly offensive gay name I could possibly find...

05-30-2003, 12:14 PM	#24 (permalink)
toxic515 Addict Location: Texas	This issue is a great deal more clear cut that it seems. The fact is, the word marriage isn't in the constitution that I can find... neither was privacy... That's because our constitution is NOT about what people can do, but about what GOVERNMENT can do. Read up on your bill of rights when you get a chance.. and pay particular attention to 9 and 10. I'll list them here for your convenience... Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. well, so what?.. you might ask. Well so right there before you, in the form of a couple of 200+ year old phrases captures the essense of how the government should, or CAN legally approach the issue of gays, etc. The government has no power to tell people what to do except in areas specifically authorized in the Constitution. That means it has no right to tell people whether or not they can engage in homosexual acts; no right to invade our privacy; no right to manage our health-care system; no right to tell us what a marriage is; no right to run our lives; no right to do anything that wasn't specifically authorized in the Constitution. (Notice also that nowhere in the Constitution does it say that government may violate the Bill of Rights if the target of its wrath is a non-citizen. Government isn't authorized to jail non-citizens indefinitely or deny them due process of law. There's a good reason for that, but that's another thread elsewhere, probably named something witty like "patriot act" or something...) on a sidebar... Being realistic, a marriage is (legally) pretty much just like forming a business.. If I happened to be gay and live in a state that all that was a problem, I suspect I'd form a corporation with the most blatantly offensive gay name I could possibly find... __________________ Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.