Cursor Letter to the Explorer

Vote ‘yes,’ and settle marriage definition forever

I am surprised to see that on October 8th The Explorer devoted a full editorial to the issue before us on November 4th to define marriage in Arizona. After all, in the same article you stated that this question should be “off the ballot, for good,” because “there are more pressing matters before us.”

Indeed, binding one man to one woman legally, economically, and spiritually through marriage has been the foundation of Western Civilization for over 1,000 years, so the definition should be obvious, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case for a small minority intent on dismantling marriage and triggering a devastating social upheaval, all the while wagging their fingers and hurling epithets of bigotry and divisiveness at those of us dedicated to protecting this cornerstone institution.Now, since we have refused to back down from this intimidation and misrepresentation, they (along with The Explorer) are trying to lull us to sleep with the bogus argument that marriage is protected by Arizona statute.

Interesting … if the marriage issue is already settled by Arizona law, then why on earth are the opponents of Proposition 102 terrified of the simple statement “only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state?” Well, it’s because this little bit of subterfuge regarding the adequacy of state statutes worked out just fine for them in Connecticut earlier this month. Since marriage was not explicitly defined in the Connecticut state constitution, the door was open for elitist judges to decide what was best for the less sophisticated people of that state. They did them the favor by overturning their quaint little law defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Activists in our state would love to do us the same favor, just as long as Prop 102 does not get in their way. We did not pick this fight, but the majority of Arizonans should stand up and settle this issue “for good.” It is as easy as voting Yes on 102, November 4th.

Dr. Craig Stump
Oro Valley