And now a word on gay rights....

This is a subject that has been near and dear to my heart for several years now. When I was in high school, our LDS stake president announced that the church was joining an effort to put an amendment to the state constitution that defined marriage as only between a man and woman, similar to what California, Florida, and Arizona did this year. I was the first one to raise my hand and ask "Why?"

The stake president told me why, and I don't remember the specifics of the answer, but I do remember leaving the meeting with the impression I needed to do what the church was asking me to do. So I petitioned.

In November, the amendment passed and since then, Nebraska has not allowed gay marriages.

Now the big issue in California and other states is that the homosexual community asserts that the amendment to the constitution is stripping away their rights as citizens. They say it is a an outrage similar to denying women the right to vote, blacks their freedoms, or any other example of discrimination you want to use. I assert that it is NOT.

If you will examine the Bill of Rights found in the first ten amendments to the US constitution, you will read about several rights GUARANTEED by the founding fathers. The right to bear arms, freedom of speech and press, freedom of religion, etc. You will also notice, however, that while everyone has the right to assemble, there is no right to marry. Marriage has never been defined, and I'm sure that's because our founding fathers never imagined that the notion of marriage would be challenged. Well, it is.

The Constitution was written by God-fearing men. It was. Get over it. Our country was founded by God-fearing men. And ever since then, we've operated and legislated partly based the majority of the population's Judeo-Christian values. God is in our Pledge of Allegiance, on our money, in our courts, He's everywhere!

Now all of a sudden, the majority of the country wants to define marriage as between a man and woman. Homosexuals are claiming that their rights are being stripped. WHAT RIGHT? There is no right being denied them. They can assemble if they want. They can have a gun if they want. They still vote, still worship, and still have life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

Would it be too much to ask the homosexual community to take a step back and stop screaming "MY TOES ARE BEING STEPPED ON!" and instead ask, "What can we do together to meet the demands of both opponents and proponents of a homosexual union?"

Why does it always have to be us meeting their demands? I'm certain solutions and compromises can be found to satisfy both parties. It's been done before, and it can be done again. Rallying in front of the Los Angeles Temple isn't winning them any friends or sympathizers. They're creating more tension, more animosity, and more friction between themselves and their self-annointed opponents.

Here's a clue: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints never made gays their opponent. They made it an objective to preserve the sanctity of marriage as they way they believe, and apparently as the way over half of California believed.

Instead of claiming the advertising was misleading and deceitful, why not try to find new solutions? Instead of claiming that you are hated and discriminated against, why not try to see the situation from your opponents' perspectives? Instead of filling your hearts with more hate, and then calling us hateful, why not try to love us, too, and sympathize with us?

I'm sure some of you out there now are popping gaskets, and I guess that's how it will have to be, but we don't hate you. We love you. And we believe differently than you do. We want to work with you so that you have the same freedoms guaranteed to you that everyone else is guaranteed. Just stop shouting at us so we can talk.