Open Letter to Apple ( and for that matter Google)

The letter below is one I recently sent to Apple with regards to their recent $100,000 donation to the “No on Proposition 8” campaign in Califonia. As they simply have a contact form I don’t know if this reached the people it needed to reach. I tired to do the same with Google who also donated a large sum of money for many of the same reasons but could not find an e-mail address. As I say below people have a right to support the cause they desire to support but truthfulness as to the reason should not be abandoned and in my opinion it has by these two companies.

Here is the letter:

I recently read about your donation to the “No on Prop 8” campaign. While you have every right to donate to whom you like I would like to bring up a few points with regards to your reasons. First and foremost this is not a civil rights issue it is instead a definitional issue. The reason it is not a civil rights issue is that homosexuals are allowed to marry the same as heterosexuals, each can marry the opposite sex. Simply because that is not ones desire doesn’t make it a civil rights issue. You cannot compare this to the issues of say blacks and their civil rights. The issue with the civil rights movement was that, minorities were not allowed to do the same things as whites and thus it was a civil rights issue, this is not the same with same-sex marriage as they can do exactly as heterosexuals.

You can not claim that simply because you can not do as you would personally like that your civil rights are being violated. In marriage even heterosexuals are limited as we cannot marry the opposite sex under a certain age no matter how we feel about them. We cannot have more than one wife and we can not marry our relatives such as sons and daughters either as there are certain restrictions in marriage but these restrictions are not civil rights violations. What those opposed to Proposition 8 are actually demanding if they, you, are truthful is a redefinition of marriage. Marriage has been defined as that between a man and women since the beginning of time and simply because one has a differing view does not necessitate a change in definition and because the definition does not change it is not a civil rights issue.

One other issue that I think has been hidden by those who oppose Proposition 8 is that same-sex couples already have rights to domestic partnerships and thus the same access to things such as insurance and such but that should not be the issue as the issue is about marriage. If the homosexual community feels it wants more benefits it needs to seek to do so through the domestic partnership route and not via the redefinition of marriage. I would guess this is not being promoted as this would then open the gates for people to see the agenda of those in opposition to 8 and that is to have their definition of marriage adopted.

So as I opened with, you have the right to oppose Proposition 8 but I would ask that you be truthful and if you truly do believe it is a civil rights issue that you would check your logic as it is faulty. Please do not portray yourselves as if you are fighting for something as noble as civil rights but instead that you desire to change definitions to meet the desires of a relatively small group with obvious power. Also please do not label those of us that desire to keep the definition of marriage as it has always been as being hateful but instead realize that we are simply fighting to not allow that which is defined not only by society as a whole but by God just as it is.

Sincerely,

Tony