[Winona Online Democracy] Dwayne, you are not a prude. It should be noted, however, that contracts can be made between more than two people. The reason that marriage is a legal contract is that when questions arise about inheritence, divorce, and domestic abuse, the law has to interpret the contract and decide the issues. In Minnesota there many statutes that define; those rights. In order to extend marriage to polygamy,we would also have to review all those statutes and draft new; ones to cover the problems that might arise. Difficult, but it can be done. Whether to do it is left to the judgment of the people. These discussions are interesting for their educational value. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dwayne Voegeli" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 6:29 PM Subject: RE: [Winona] Gay Marriage and Basic Civil Rights
> [Winona Online Democracy] > > I agree and disagree with Phil Carlson. > > I agree that life simply isn't simple. Life changes and evolves, so must > our norms and ways of thinking. Otherwise a few simple things like > slavery, women treated like cattle, and other charming customs would still > be around. > > I must admit I caught myself thinking twice about the whole polygamy issue > as well. > > I'm half thinking out loud here so leave me a little room to stumble. In > the spirit of open conversation, I'll follow up on Paul's lead on these > interesting questions about polygamy. Please don't try to blind side me or > set me up for something though. > > Here is what I came up with, let me know what you all think. > > Marriage in it's most basic form is a legal and binding contract between > two people. Of course there is a very strong emotional and spiritual > element as well but in it's most basic form, marriage is a legal issue. > > Marriages also have an important religous side to them but that is handled > in a church. A marriage does not need to take place in a church. No > church has to conduct gay marriages if they don't want to but the secular > state should not discriminate. > > Polygamy is not between two people. Therefore the contract does not apply > to them. They have no legal ground for property rights, parental rights, > inheritance, insurance coverage, etc.. > > Should polygamy be illegal. Yes. Will history one day call me a prejudice > conservative prude? Maybe. I guess I'm willing to take that risk. > > Dwayne the Prude > > > ================== > > > >From: "Phil Carlson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: "Online Democracy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Subject: RE: [Winona] Is it time for the discussion? Polygamy > >Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 12:14:19 -0600 > > > >[Winona Online Democracy] > > > > > >Life cannot be simple, because life simply is not simple. Laws are simply > >what we all agree on -- through our legislators. Why not polygamy? No > >solid reason, other than most of us don't agree it's a good idea. But > >there's no inherent reason it could not be put into law if we wanted to. As > >for figuring out more details on insurance, etc. -- we do it all the time > >when it comes to inheritance and numerous children or other beneficiaries. > >This is not a reason in and of itself to outlaw it. I'm not advocating > >polygamy, only pointing out that it is not "written in stone" to outlaw it. > > > >I do, however, advocate for gay marriage, or its equivalent, because there > >are so many people in strong, long-term relationships who ought to be > >covered for issues like inheritance, medical decisions, etc., and it's good > >public policy to encourage strong, long-term relationships. And, > >miraculously, it doesn't harm us heterosexuals one bit! > > > >- Phil Carlson, Mpls > > > > > ><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> > ><HTML><HEAD> > ><META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> > ><META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1276" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> > ><BODY lang=EN-US vLink=purple link=blue bgColor=#ffffff> > ><DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=475070618-09022004>Life > >cannot be simple, because life simply is not simple. Laws are simply what > >we all agree on -- through our legislators. Why not polygamy? > >No solid reason, other than most of us don't agree it's a good idea. But > >there's no inherent reason it could not be put into law if we wanted to. > >As for figuring out more details on insurance, etc. -- we do it all the time > >when it comes to inheritance and numerous children or other > >beneficiaries. > >This is not a reason in and of itself to outlaw it. </SPAN></FONT><FONT > >face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=475070618-09022004>I'm not > >advocating polygamy, only pointing out that it is not "written in stone" to > >outlaw it.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> > ><DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN > >class=475070618-09022004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> > ><DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN > >class=475070618-09022004>I do, > >however, advocate for gay marriage, or its equivalent, because there are > >so many > >people in strong, long-term relationships who ought to be covered for issues > >like inheritance, medical decisions, etc., and it's good public policy to > >encourage strong, long-term relationships. And, miraculously, it doesn't > >harm us heterosexuals one bit!</SPAN></FONT></DIV> > ><DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN > >class=475070618-09022004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> > ><DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN > >class=475070618-09022004>- Phil > >Carlson, Mpls</SPAN></FONT></DIV> > ><DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN > >class=475070618-09022004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> > ><DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML> > > > >_______________________________________________ > >This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy > >All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. > >No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. > >To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit > >http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona > >Any problems or suggestions can be directed to > >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at > > http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org > > > > ------------ > > Dwayne Voegeli > > Winona County Commissioner, District #2 > > (507) 453-9012 > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > 359 Pleasant Hill Dr. > Winona, MN 55987 > > ------------ > > > _______________________________________________ > This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy > All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. > No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. > To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit > http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona > Any problems or suggestions can be directed to > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at > http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org > _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
