WHEREAS, The Bible is the Word of God, written by men, but divinely inspired, the Bible also is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is God-breathed and inerrant, and all Scripture is true and trustworthy. It is the standard by which all human conduct and religious opinion should be measured; and

WHEREAS, The Bible teaches that God loves all people and commands us to do likewise; the Bible also teaches that marriage was the first institution ordained by God at the beginning of creation when it was established between Adam, a male, and Eve, a female, as the pattern for all time. Since the beginning of time societies, cultures and religions have endorsed marriage as the union between one man and one woman for a lifetime. Marriage provides the framework for intimate companionship, the avenue of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation. It also is God's unique gift to demonstrate the relationship between Christ and His church; and

WHEREAS, The family unit that God intended - a father, a mother and children - has fallen into disarray while the divorce rate in our state and nation is at an all-time high, and the percentage rate of divorce in the general population is reflected in the church; and

WHEREAS, California voters in 2000, by more than 61 percent of the vote, approved Proposition 22 which reads, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California;" and

WHEREAS, The California Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, disregarded the will of the people on May 15, 2008 by striking down Proposition 22, thereby granting marriage privileges to "same-sex" couples; and

WHEREAS, Same-sex marriage is legally unnecessary since homosexual couples in California already are entitled to all the legal rights and privileges of marriage, short of the name; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED That the California Southern Baptist Convention Executive Board, meeting September 12, 2008, endorse Proposition 8, a California constitutional amendment that states, "Only marriage between a man and
a woman is valid or recognized in California;" and be it further

RESOLVED That California Southern Baptist Convention churches and
members are urged to pray about this important issue, and that at least 7 million
Californians will vote for traditional, biblical marriage; and be it further

RESOLVED That churches are encouraged to conduct voter registration drives between now and October 20 since as many as 50 percent of Christian eligible voters are not registered to carry out this civic privilege; and be it further

RESOLVED That California Southern Baptist Convention pastors are urged to inform their congregations of the issues and encourage them to participate in the grassroots effort; and be it further

RESOLVED That California Southern Baptists be encouraged to financially
support Proposition 8 by making donations to ProtectMarriage.com by
October 10; and be it finally

RESOLVED That California Southern Baptist Convention church leaders are urged to avail themselves of resources provided on the World Wide Web at www.csbc.com/protectmarriage, www.ProtectMarriage.com and www.protectmarriageca.com.