Dennis Tuuri

Full PEAPAC Analysis

P EAPAC Recommendation: Measure 78 edits the Constitution, making it clearer. Every few years, the Legislature edits Oregon’s Constitution, making the language clearer and more consistent with current usage. Since all Constitutional changes must be approved by a vote of the people, these changes appear as a Ballot Measure. In Measure 78, the most significant proposed edit is the use of the term “branch” to replace the older term “department” as it relates to our Legislative, Judicial and Administrative sections of government. [As an aside, we note that these three branches reflect the triune God, as described in Isaiah 33:22 “For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.”]

Other edits include changing language referring to the Secretary of State from “he” “him” and “his” to gender neutral wording. The Bible clearly affirms the equality of men and women, and there is nothing wrong with female governing officials (think Deborah, for instance). But the Bible is not written in “gender neutral” language. It uses male pronouns as inclusive of both men and women. This is because the man, Adam, represented the whole human race, both men and women, as does Jesus, the second Adam. We lose a significant element of representative language when we insist on gender neutral nouns and pronouns in all our documents. We look for a return to Biblical language, and wanted to use this Measure as an opportunity to help Christians think about language the way God does. But this Measure makes only a few minor edits in a Constitution that has already been made gender neutral. And the larger change noted above (“department” to “branch”) is a good change, and we therefore support Measure 78 and recommend a yes vote.