California Man Proposes Divorce Ban

States across the nation who are considering legislative ways to protect traditional marriage should take note. A California man is seeking enough signatures to put a "no divorce" amendment on the ballot. So far he is getting support from the left and the right. Keith Olbermann named him best person of the year recently and the religious right has backed his effort.

Across the country there are efforts in a number of states to protect marriage from such threats as gay marriage. In Proposition 8 in California, same-sex marriages were banned. John Marcotte, who heads up the effort to ban divorce in California, says on his website Rescuemarriage.org that he "felt strongly that Prop 8 did not go far enough in protecting traditional marriage."

Ban Reveals Hypocrisy

Some, like Jen who commented on the Rescuremarriage.org, argue that Marcotte's campaign is designed to show the intrinsic problems in the initial Proposition 8 passage. She writes, ""When you take away rights from one group of people you have just put your same rights on the chopping block."

Nationwide, more than fifty-percent of marriages end in divorce, so Marcotte's amendment could potentially affect many people if passed. The Huffingtonpost reports that Marcotte , a married Sacramento Web Designer and father of two, said, "Since California has decided to protect traditional marriage, I think it would be hypocritical of us not to sacrifice some of our own rights to protect traditional marriage even more."

According to the Huffingtonpost, this California proposal prevent married couples from getting divorced while allowing married couples to seek out an annulment. This measure would be consistent with the Roman Catholic Church's position.

Nationwide Support for Ban

NPR reports that John Marcotte's initiate has support across the country. His initiative has more than 11,000 Facebook fans. In fact, Marcotte is looking into whether he can get signatures online, tapping support from people outside of California, as is being done for a proposed 2010 initiative to repeal the current gay marriage ban.

Some, like Jane writing on Rescuemarriaage.org, don't think Marcotte is going far enough, "How about banning marriage altogether? Seriously, why does the government need to know whether someone is married or not?"

"Cnn Newsroom," Cnn.com

"About Us," Rescuemarriage.org

"California Divorce Ban Underway," Huffingtonpost.com

"'No Divorce' Initiative Lampoons Gay Marriage Ban," NPR.org