Quote Originally Posted by SteveinMN View Post
You are ducking my question.

There are a handful of people posting on this board -- including you -- who have a fair amount of contempt for government. I understand that, in your perfect world, it would not be necessary to involve the government in marriage. In fact, I actually would be happy to let married couples enter into a civil union recognized by the government for the purposes of inheritance, power of attorney, etc., and let them go to the social organization of their choice for a "marriage" with whatever other covenants they want to add in. But this toothpaste is out of the tube.
Well, now that you've labeled me, and a handful of unknown others, let's see how close you are. I don't have contempt for government, I have contempt for government over-reach, particularly on the federal level.

Whether I like the outcome or not, I believe the states have the right to use their government to impose the will of the people, within the limitations of their constitution. And, once the people have spoken, the federal government should keep their hands out of it provided the state isn't violating one of the tenents of the federal constitution. I believe DOMA to be over-reach by the federal government, intruding into states rights, and I believe Prop 8 to be squarely within the realm of states rights whether the federal government likes it or not.

If you (the collective you) don't want the federal government to intrude on the state's ability to allow same sex marriage (DOMA), or the legalization of marijuana, or any other local decision, then you shouldn't be asking them to arbitrate those decisions you don't like, such as proposition 8.