James Autry writes a deep and thoughtful column in today's Register on gay issues, church, and state. The core:
We need to separate the two aspects of marriage, one of which is the business of the state and one of which is the business of the church.
One of those aspects is the contract of marriage, the other is the covenant of marriage.
Clearly the contract part — property rights, tax issues, inheritance rights and so on — is an appropriate concern of the state. But the covenant part — love, commitment, emotional, psychological and spiritual bonds and support — is not an appropriate concern of the state.
Thus I believe we should separate the two aspects and call the contract part a civil union, and call the covenant part a 'marriage.'
The state can legitimately continue to issue licenses for civil unions, but let the churches address 'marriage' as a sacrament of the church and in accordance with the churches' own policies.
I like this approach: get government out of the marriage business, treat everyone equally by making EVERYTHING a civil union, and let churches decide what's a "marriage." If you want to be in a bigoted church, that's your business, but don't inflict that on the rest of us.
Autry is identified as "an author and consultant." He is NOT identified as the partner (or to use the socially sanctioned hetero term, "spouse") of one Sally Pederson, lieutenant governor and Iowa Democratic Party chair. Do the two partners share this vision? And how does this mesh with Chet Culver's stated opposition to civil unions?
This looks to me like a smack upside Culver's skull, a public shot in the internal debate still raging across listservs and at booze-n-schmooze events across the state. Will he take the hint, or will he ignore the base in favor of pollsters and consultants?
Also in the Register, the presidential wannabees are sending staffers to Iowa, hoping to earn points with the county chairs and legislators so important at caucus time. Mostly GOP, but buried deep is a gem from the Where Are They Now Department:
Vilsack, who would be expected to win the Iowa caucuses (sic), announced Monday the addition of two staff members in Iowa.
Former Vilsack administration policy adviser Dusky Terry and Heather Matson, who ran Terry's losing primary bid for Iowa agriculture secretary this year, have joined Heartland PAC in Iowa, said the organization's Iowa political director Jeff Link.
So Dusky's prepping for the future. Another campaign, or über-operative?
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