Full announcement from the Asheville-Buncombe Community Relations Council:
[Asheville, NC] The Asheville-Buncombe Community Relations Council (ABCRC) and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville (UUCA) will host a community forumdiscussing Amendment One, Tuesday, March 27th from 7:30-9:30pm at the UUCA at 1 Edwin Place, Asheville.
The forum will consist of panel members the Reverend Lisa Bovee Kemper, Assistant Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, Representative Marcus Brandon of District 60 for the NC House of Representatives, Dr. John Brock, Professor of Chemistry, Warren Wilson College, Ms. Valerie Collins, Executive Director, Helpmate Domestic Violence Agency, as well as a representative from the Coalition to Protect ALL NC Families.
The amendment states, “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized by the state.” What does this mean? If passed, this amendment to the state constitution would prohibit civil unions and strip away rights from other currently recognized domestic partnerships. The amendment threatens committed couples’ rights to hospital visitations, their ability to make joint medical and financial decisions, and their ability to make final decisions about the remains of their deceased partner. Additionally, currently recognized wills and trusts could be nullified. The passage of Amendment One places the children of North Carolina at risk: there is a potential for loss of health care and prescription drug coverage, a challenge to custodial rights in the death of unmarried parents and re-litigation of custody rights that have already been determined to be in the best interest of the child. Further implications of this legislation include domestic violence protection only being applied to married couples and senior citizens losing access to survivors’ benefits.
ABCRC Board Secretary and forum organizer Sharon Lewis noted, “It’s critically important for those who are already opposed to Amendment One to bring undecided friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers to the forum so they can learn how Amendment One would harm so many North Carolina families.”
Opposition of this amendment is bipartisan, as you do not have to support marriage equality to see why this amendment is harmful to all of our families. UUCA and ABCRC invite you to come and learn more about why to vote against Amendment One on May 8th. Early voting begins Thursday, April 19th 2012. The primary election will be held on May 8th 2012 and you can register to vote by April 13,2012.
The UUCA is located at the intersection of Charlotte Street and Edwin Place. For more information about Amendment One, please visit protectallncfamilies.org.
These arguments against Amendment One appeal primarily to its impracticality without really addressing the over-arching moral objection: that this amendment would represent a violation by the government of the unalienable individual rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness based purely on religious grounds.
I would like to see this panel, and other opponents, emphasize and reinforce the moral arguments and explicitly distinguish them from other practical arguments. Specifically, that this amendment:
(1) violates individual rights by preventing free adults from using their best judgment regarding social contracts. Individuals have the right of association, the right of contract and the right of freedom of action without interference by others or by the government.
(2) represents the conflation of church and state by codifying religious precepts in a law that forces everyone to adopt, in practice, the religious views of a majority. Law should at all times reflect a strict separation of religion and government.
(3) appeals to mob rule to determine right and wrong by delegating the right to violate rights through an electoral process. No individual, no majority, no society, no government has the right to violate rights.
It is for these moral reasons that the amendment poses practical problems. The amendment is ultimately impractical and harmful because it is immoral.
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