Update: On Nov. 4, with the support of 100,000 volunteers and $40 million in campaign contributions, Proposition 8 passed, establishing the definition of marriage in the California Constitution as a union between a man and a woman.

Many important propositions have been placed on the ballot for the State of California this election. A highly publicized and emotional ballot initiative, Proposition 8 seeks to amend the California Constitution to include the words: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.?

If passed, Prop. 8 would overturn a 2008 California State Supreme Court ruling to legalize same-sex marriage. Four activist judges swayed the decision, which disregarded 61% of California voters who approved the amendment in 2000.

The fuel for the heated controversy derives from the California public school curriculum, however. If Prop. 8 fails, supporters claim teachers will be required to introduce same-sex marriage to students in as early as kindergarten, according to an Oct. 22 Associated Press article on MSNBC, Schools become focus of gay marriage fight.

California has already seen similar measures and propositions on the ballots in past elections. Prop. 8 seeks to reestablish the California voters’ decision, and thus halt the Court’s runaway liberal agenda.

When the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage they completely undermined the definition our nation has used for over 230 years, which Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines as ?The act of marrying, or the state of being married; legal union of a man and a woman for life, as husband and wife; wedlock; matrimony.”

The United States was founded upon a Biblical principle which is evident in our historical documents. Throughout both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, there is an underlying acknowledgment of a higher being.

For example, the last line of the Declaration of Independence states, ?And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.?

Since its conception, our nation’s laws have mirrored a Biblical moral standard; however, that precedent has steadily declined in the past hundred years, along with our nation’s standing in the world. (Maybe the two are correlated?)

The Bible, America’s fundamental basis for morality, speaks out clearly on homosexuality and on the importance of the sanctity of marriage in both the Old and New Testaments. In Romans 1, Paul writes about sinful desires that men were given over to, including homosexuality.

As an example, the book of I Corinthians states that marriage is meant to be between a man and a woman.

“But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband,” I Corinthians 7:2.

Although the verses do not include the word marriage, the relational lifestyle intended for humanity is explicit in Genesis.

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh,” Genesis 2:24.

As citizens in a nation established with Christian moral principles, we need to vote to uphold those values and save the traditional definition of marriage.

For more conservative views on the election, read News media presents biased coverage, Obama’s campaign misrepresents tax cuts or Options for peace establishment, pullout divide candidates.

This column sparked many comments posted here and on both letters to the editor regarding this column. To read the letters and their comments, visit Rethink Prop 8 and In Response to Ryan, both by guest writer Brittany Lauber, an ’08 alumna.