With all the attention being paid to the stem cell issue, it's worth remembering that the House yesterday also voted on H J RES 88 "Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage."
Some soundbites from the floor are worth repeating:
Rep. John Carter (R-TX): "The reality is, marriage has always been a union between a man and a woman. Now in China, they might say a civil union. In Rome they might say a church union. But it's always been a union between a man and a woman. In my faith, I believe it's part of God's plan for the future of mankind."
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN): "I believe first, though, marriage should be protected because it wasn't our idea. Several millennia ago, the words were written that a man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two should become one flesh. It wasn't our idea. It was God's idea."
Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-CO): "We celebrate the fact that we were all created equal by our Creator -- equal, but different, and for a purpose. He showed us that purpose in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve ... And marriage since the beginning of time, as close as I can tell, has been between a man and a woman. And if it was indeed good enough for our Creator and it was indeed our Creator's plan that we were created different for an absolute divine purpose, I think we best not be messing with His plan today. "
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA): "This is all about marriage that results, or potentially can result, in the procreation of children. And this is what our Constitution has implied for 223 years, and indeed, what the word of God has implied for 2,000 years ... But I do know a little bit about the sacrament of marriage, Mr. Speaker, as one of about 200 Catholic members of the United States Congress. And I think God has spoken very clearly, very clearly, on this issue."
[HT Think Progress]
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Let's play a little bit of switcheroo:
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN): "I believe first, though, that child-killing bears should be protected because it wasn't our idea. Several millennia ago, the words were written that children mocked Elisha for being bald, so he commanded wild bears to maul 42 of them. It wasn't our idea. It was God's idea."
2 Kings 2: 24
Why stop with the bears? God also told us when to stone our children to death, when to stone our spouses to death, when to stone people who wear unfashionable attire to death, when to kill this group and that group. But nowhere in the Bible does it say that men should be allowed to own guns.