A bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry was approved in the California Assembly on Tues, which is the first time a state legislature in the United States has endorsed gay marriage.
With the help of four Democrats who abstained when the Assembly had previously taken up the legislation, the bill by San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno passed by a 41-25 vote.
The state Senate backed the same bill last week. Both the California Assembly and state Senate are controlled by Democrats. The office of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had previously opposed gay marriage, issued a statement saying he believes that the issue is best decided in the courts.
California voters in 2000 endorsed a ballot measure defining marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, but that ban on same-sex marriages is facing court challenges.
The California Supreme Court has ruled invalid same-sex marriage licenses issued in 2004 by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, which helped fuel a national debate over gay marriage.
Opponents of gay marriage aim to place a measure on next year's ballot that would amend the state Constitution to include a ban.
Thomas Wang, Chairman of Great Commission Center International, told The Gospel Post the following on Tuesday, September 7, 2005:
"We see here, the fallibility of man. We say man is fallible because man is capable of making mistakes. This is the fallibility of man. The first point I'm going to make is the fallibility of democracy. It is a good society system. It is one of the best that man has created or discovered but democracy is basically humanism. Why? Because democracy believes in the principle of majority rule. Democracy is based upon an assumption. It is that the majority is always right. The majority can't be wrong. That is the assumption of democracy. We follow and obey the opinion of the majority. The majority cannot be wrong. That is still basically humanism. The difference between Democracy and dictatorship, which we abhor, is to obey a group of person or obey a group of persons. Whether one person rule or a group of persons rule, that's the difference.
The commonality of the two is that they are all humans. Whether we believe in one group of man or one man, humanism is doom to fail. Right now, we see the proof of it. All the governing institutions, recent legislations, including yesterday, is actually majority at work. The thing we see happening right in-front of our eyes, we see that the majority rules. The Majority is wrong. Like the vote in last week's senate legislation and the Yesterday's state assembly, both followed democratic principle and procedures. A show of hand or by tickets whatever is a majority. Now, we see the precious democratic principle is being hijacked by some people to achieve their immoral and unethical aim. The majority here is clearly not to say against the Bible, but against nature, against morality, against the family principle, against the social system. Everything is against, but we can see is it a democratic principle. The more hands went up. It is 41-35. You see it is democracy. Here, we see the fallibility or the end of the limit of democracy, because democracy is basically humanism. Man rules. Whether it is one person or a group of person, man is fallible. This is the basic problem of our modern society.
Now you say to get rid of democracy. You can't do that, because there is no other system better than this except theocracy, rule by God. Man rebel against that in ancient time. This is the situation today.
We see the end of fallibility of democracy. America today is standing at the precipice, edge of a big cliff. We're in the last moment of no return. If we continue in this way, America coming into what I call the "beginning of the end", like the late Roman Empire. Roman Empire, the great empire, comprised both Asia and Europe across two great continents. Edward Gibbons wrote the monumental book, which numbered to several thousand pages and three huge volumes. The conclusion of this book shows the reasons of the decline and fall of Roman Empire. There are numbers of reasons, but one the main reason is corruption from within. I think what is happening in Western Europe and America is corruption and turning away from God from within.
Take the European countries, most of them if not all of them are build up by Christian principle, but one by one they turn their backs from God. Now 4 or 5 countries have endorsed homosexual marriages. Several of the other countries just agreed of the same-sex union without the privilege of family. Western Europe to a degree has already fallen. You don't see any voice there that stands up for God and for the bible. America is the last of the Giants. At least a part of her still speak up for God, let¡¦s save America. We only have to call upon God to save America for the final decline.
Realistically, there are two urgent matters that we have to do. Since both senate and assembly of CA has passed the law, right now the only way we can do is to plea or request the governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to veto, may God give him the courage to do what is right. Not to act upon political expediency, it takes courage for a politician. He knows very well that if he vetoes the bill, then a lot people will come up against him, and this requires courage. Let us pray that God can give him courage and strength to veto the bill.
Chinese churches are cooperating today with one American organization. We¡¦re going to work with them to seek a state-wide California referendum. We can't depend upon the courts, assembly, senate anymore, they have proved unreliable. They have lost our trust. We have to go to the people. We have to have state-wide referendum. In order to qualify for that, we have to get one million signatures before the end of Nov. Then, we'll submit this to the state of California early next year, and they have to verify it and see if all the signatures are valid. After the verifying process, they will put this into a vote in June of next year. They will put it in the ballot. It is our desperate prayer and hope that the Lord will have mercy upon the people in California that they will vote against homosexual marriage or same-sex marriage or they will uphold traditional marriage."
Interview with Thomas Wang on Topics of Homosexual Marriage.
Interview with Rev. Thomas Wang on Legalizing of Gay Marriage in Canada
