Our fathers
I sympathize with Matapuna Mailo’s situation (Letters, 2/3). However, she has been lied to.
“Supporters and adherents to traditional marriage” were never targeted by supporters of HB 444. The bill was intended to supply an alternative to anyone who could not be married according to the existing immoral, discriminatory laws.
“The importance of religious belief in political choices” has no legal place in how legislators vote in this nation. Many of our founding fathers were descendants of people who had fled to America because of religious persecution. Various Protestant groups had arrived from different countries; Catholics had fled England and founded Maryland.
They knew what discrimination and persecution felt like, so they did their best to stop it from happening in their new home. It was banned by the First Amendment to the Constitution. President Washington went as far as to put in writing that America was “not a Christian nation,” in order to reassure those who followed other faiths.
Yet almost immediately a compromise was established. Men who represented religious groups were “authorized” to perform marriage ceremonies that were then considered legally binding.
If (as I was taught) marriage is a sacrament, government cannot be involved. If marriage is a legal contract, church cannot be involved. This is in the nation’s Constitution, as well as Hawaii’s.
The obvious solution is to eliminate the “compromise” and have government offer only civil unions, while churches may include “and marriage” to the certificate, if the couple wishes and the church of their choice agrees. This was the intention of the bill.
While this may be logical (and constitutional), it probably interests few. Power and bigotry are lots more fun–and profitable.
Tom Luna
Honolulu
COMMENTS
We often print online comments in our “Letters to the Editor” section of Honolulu Weekly. While submitted letters are often edited for length and clarity, online comments we use are printed entirely as they are written for the website. If you do not wish for your comment to be used in Honolulu Weekly print issues, please write “Don’t Print” at the end of your comment. For questions, e-mail editorial@honoluluweekly.com. Thank you!