Restore Marriage?

"Restore marriage--vote yes on Prop. 8," proclaimed a bumper sticker as I drove on the 110 freeway into Pasadena today.

Ah, if only it were that simple. If only a vote against same-sex marriage, like a shot of cortisone, could prop up that worn and battered institution.

If only Prop. 8 could end cheating, wife-swapping, divorce, premarital sex, and oldster romances that can't become legal because Social Security payments would end.

If only it could put new life into 36-year-old marriages like mine.

California's Prop. 8 can't do that, but it can sure raise money and get out the vote.

Yesterday's LA Times has a full-page ad showing the head of Jesus on the cross, sagging under the crown of thorns, with two Bible verses and the message, "Vote YES on Proposition 8."

Matthew 19:4,5 and Leviticus 20:13 are the featured verses.

Never mind that divorce is the issue raised in Matthew when Jesus answers "a man shall be joined to his wife..." Jesus concludes by not permitting divorce "except for unchastity."

Anyone want to sign a proposition outlawing divorce?

Never mind that most of Leviticus is now ignored, like the command three verses earlier in chapter 20: "If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death."

To vote yes on Prop. 8, you don't have to be a strict Jew or Christian who really would like to outlaw divorce and execute adulterers.

You just have to have a nostalgic desire to restore marriage to some ancient glory, and maybe to perk up Jesus on that cross: you can save Jesus by voting yes!

Actually, your presidential vote isn't that important because California usually goes blue. (The Democratic areas of San Franciso and Los Angeles counties outvote the red swath of the central valley and the two red patches of Orange and San Diego counties.)

The vote on Prop. 8, however, will influence attempts in other states to prevent same-sex couples from having the benefits of marriage.

California voters rejected same-sex marriage in 2000 with Prop. 22, but the California Supreme Court overturned that proposition earlier this year.

Major donors to Yes on 8 are the Knights of Columbus, Focus on the Family, and the Mormon Church.

If they succeed with Leviticus 20:13, maybe they'll move on to 20:10 and who knows what else.