To the Editor:

Please go to the poles on May 8 and vote “No” to amend the N.C. Constitution, an amendment that if passed, would further codify the denial of rights for certain groups of North Carolina citizens.

Amendments to the Constitution, whether it be state or federal, should only be used to expand or defend the rights of citizens rather than to deny or restrict the rights of certain groups of citizens. The proponents of this amendment are attempting to create a second class of citizens, and they are trying to circumvent the founding principle of inalienable rights of all citizens that was established during the the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

The Declaration of Independence, drafted by that Congress, says it best, and I quote: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness.” In the declaration, our wise forefathers didn’t refer to “their Creator” as “their Conservative Christian Creator,” but only as “their Creator.”

Regardless of how anyone feels on the issue of marriage or religion, we should all stand firm against any attempt to deny or restrict any of our rights by the state or federal government, especially when targeted against certain groups of people, even if against groups that we may not agree with, for whatever reason. The preserving of this founding principle is tantamount to protecting the minority from the tyranny of the majority.

I am puzzled by the fact that Christian conservatives, or Christian fundamentalists, seem so threatened by the gay and lesbian communities. What is so fragile in their own relationships with their Creator or God, or in their own relationships with their opposite sexed spouses, that they feel compelled to deny to others the same rights and benefits that a marriage compact between two people affords, and that they themselves enjoy? Isn’t that starkly hypocritical, or do they simply consider themselves holier than the rest?

I am all for the uninhibited enjoyment and practice of everyone’s personal and/or religious beliefs, right up until the point that they feel the urge to impose those beliefs on others. Fortunately, freedom of religion is only equal to freedom from religion.

Please understand the issues regarding this amendment and vote “No.” If this amendment is passed, the sex police could come for you next.

Charlie Dasher

Highlands