Putting up with something one disagrees with--that is tolerance. A tolerant person
does not persecute those who think or act differently, but allows them freedom to
choose for themselves. Tolerance, however, is not legitimization. But some members of society, some Californians in particular, seem to have forgotten this.

For many years, those who label themselves as "gay" have received more and more
privileges that have previously belonged to married couples. Those who have viewed
same-sex intimacies (including sodomy) as repulsive--they have been in the majority. But that majority did nothing to overthrow laws protecting those labeled "gay." This is a sign of tolerance, not intolerance.

The religious beliefs of many centuries have labeled same-sex intimacies as sin, and
the majority of Californians have tolerated those who have disagreed with them. But that tolerance never requires any person in that majority to change his or her belief about what is right or wrong. In fact, it would be intolerant for any person to try to force someone to condone same-sex intimacies.

In 2008, the California Supreme Court overturned the voter-approved definition of the word "marriage," in complete contradiction not only to the will of 61% of voters (in the 2000 election), but in contradiction to countless generations of the vast majority of human civilizations. Four of the seven justices flaunted thousands of years of moral traditions. But there is something else that's reprehensible: The word that many citizens have held sacred has been redefined. "Marriage" has, by those four justices, been made to include relationships that are morally repulsive to those who have tolerated the popularization of same-sex intimacies. But it is the people, not those four, who decide the meaning of the word "marriage," and no minority, no matter how much they have taken control of the decisions of some justices, can claim any right to a new definition. In November of 2008, 52.5% of the Californian voters restored the word "marriage" to its original meaning. "Marriage" should always mean the relationship between a husband (male) and wife (female).