Loudoun Observer
October 3, 2005
By Thom Beres, Col, USAF, Ret, Cascades
Joe Budzinski, (Marriage Supporters Discuss VA Plans, Sept. 19), can heave a sigh of relief that Gov Schwarzenegger has saved “traditional” marriage in California by vetoing the legislature’s vote to redefine marriage so all couples can solidify their willingness before the law to commit to support each other “for better or for worse” until death or divorce occurs. The latter happening as often in California as the first. Guess you can call that the real traditional marriage in California.
Having been married for 36 years to a woman I met in high school, I never can understand why people like Mr. Budzinski feel their marriage is so threatened by others who want to have the same legal obligations as he does. Marriage is a loving relationship that is not legislated but felt between two people. It has been around for thousands of years in cultures all over the world who might find Mr. Budzinski’s “traditional marriage” concept rather untraditional.
Mr. Budzinski hopes that the Virginia legislature enshrines his idea of traditional marriage in the Virginia constitution. I hope that includes my marriage and those of others who come from other cultures and religions. He probably hopes to go back to the time of having to prove the need for a divorce also. I guess that should also be written into his new constitution.
And of course couples who are allowed to be married in his state should get preference and tax incentives over single parent families since their family situation is not as “good” or “traditional”.
I am sure Mr. Budzinski really believes in what he says and the “slippery slope” theory of social action based on obscure studies.
Let’s hope the voters of Virginia see the threat that his type of social thinking contains and how it endangers the very liberties I fought for in the U.S. Air Force.