Two from the Op-Ed Page re: the Amendments

In case anyone missed the short opinion piece by Donald Sonsalla, a retired teacher from White Bear Lake, Minn., in today's Star Tribune:

Marriage Debate: Many traditions needed redefining

From what I read in letters to the editor and newspaper articles, there appears to be a misunderstanding that according to the Bible, marriage between a man and a woman is tradition, has always been that way and therefore should stay that way.

In fact, there are a number of rules regarding human relationships that at one time were supported by the Bible that society no longer supports:

1. We no longer stone a woman to death if she is not a virgin at marriage (Deut. 22: 13-21).

2. We no longer practice polygamy (Gen. 4: 19, 16:3, 21: 1-13, 25: 1).

3. Men no longer have concubines and slaves in marriage (Gen. 25:6, 30: 4, 30: 9). It is interesting to note that Solomon had more than 1,000 wives and concubines (Kings 11:3).

4. We accept interfaith marriages (Num. 25:6-11, Deut. 7:3, Ezra. 9:2-12, 10: 2-3 and Gen. 24:3-4).

5. We accept interracial marriages (Num. 12:1, Exodus 34: 12-16, Deut. 7:1-4).

6. We now have divorce and annulments as common practice (Matthew 5:32, 19:8).

7. We no longer allow incest in marriage (Gen. 11-14, 19).

8. Marriage was not always a Christian sacrament. Prior to the Council of Trent, it was a civil ceremony and in 1562 was established as a Catholic sacrament.

Those are just a few of the changes over the years. Societies continue to redefine the concept of marriage and recognize equality and civil rights for all.

Let's continue to move forward. Vote no on the marriage amendment.

Not to mention the much longer but very readable op-ed by Jack Davies. (Davies is a former state senator, and was one of the drafters of our current state constitution.) He argues that both of the amendments we face on our ballots this year add rigidity to the constitution that is not in keeping with its purpose.