Nov 20, 2009
Where will we not marry or be given in marriage? The new heavens and new earth…and Texas.
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This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.
-The Texas Constitution, Article 1, Section 32(b)
(via LL)
* * * * *
Read section a). It defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
Section b) outlaws bigomy and homosexual unions.
I like the quote out of context. *rolls eyes*
Yes, I know. But it does so ambiguously at best, no?
Oddly, what we know it means and what it says are different. Judging only by what it says, b) contradicts a), since things are identical to themselves (including marriage).
In the end, though, I’m only making an observation as to the quality of the law’s writing, not the law itself. That’s a separate post that I’ll probably never write. Well, maybe. Who knows.
That’s the joys of Texas politics. the only way to get a bill passed in the legislature is to revise it enough that it (seemingly) compromises itself. That way both sides get what the want and no one is actually happy.
There’s a bumper sticker you see around a lot that says “Texas Politics: Not for the Weak of Heart!”
It should say “Texas Politics: Proving Man’s Need for Grace since 1836!”
That’s what I’ve been wondering, though. Does the identity property hold in legal language, like it does in mathematical and everyday language?
>>”since things are identical to themselves (including marriage).”
Marriages are identical to eachother, but marriage as a broad term defining the concept is singular and so saying ‘this is also marriage’(e.g. two blokes) is making something identical to marriage. When John and Jane get married, they are not making something identical to marriage.
It seems very clear and non-contradictory to me, it’s talking about marriage, not marriages.
At least it isn’t 2074 pages and it also won’t kill what’s left of a dying economy.
Nobody is interpreting this amendment in that way.
Yep, this one’s only 22 Words…which makes it postable. :)
BILL BIGGER THAN ROCK KILL FREEDOM
“It’s 850,000 pages long. I heard one day the bill caught on fire. It burned for 30 days and 30 nights, blacking out the sun. And that, Billy, is how the dinosaurs died.”
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-november-5-2009/health-care–bigger–longer-and-uncut
Umm, I think it was God who created marriage, not Texas or any other state.
Exactly what I was thinking. Before I read what preceded this in the law, I thought that this was a good thing. The State does not have the power to mandate, legislate, create, outlaw, or destroy what was put in place by God. In other words, we need more laws which acknowledge that there are certain things that laws cannot be made regarding (how’s that for contradictory).
seconded
I think this can be fairly characterized as a “baby with the bathwater” scenario.
Luckily, we have a whole branch of government that deals with ambiguously worded statutes.
It is very possible that this wording will be taken as ambiguous by some and debated over and over in court. But all of those people live in or near Austin. The rest of us realize very well what they meant and, praise be to God, most of the judges outside of Austin will, too. If they wanted us to really say what we mean, it would sound something like…
You can put your boots in the oven, but that don’t make ‘em biscuits. Ya hear what I’m saying?
Or perhaps…just because a chicken has wings doesn’t mean it can fly.
We finally realized that when that language went under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court, a bit got lost in translation. But the rest of us understand it just fine. It’s our country. We know what we mean.
Well, shoot, Kim. That gives “Don’t Mess With Texas” a whole other meaning.
It’s your state. The rest of the country might think differently.
This was actually a big issue when we voted on the anti-gay marriage proposition in 2005. (All amendments to the Texas constitution have to be approved by the voters after the legislature passes it. It was the framers’ way of ensuring that very little would be accomplished in our state government.) It will be part of the legal challenge when it finally comes, due to somebody’s poor writing skills.