January 27, 2004

Dear Mr. Chairman and members of the committee:

My name is Robert Burger, and I'm grateful to be here today with my wife and four daughters in support of Senate Joint Resolution 7. I have a Ph.D. in computer science from Indiana University and develop software for Beckman Coulter in Indianapolis.

The institution of marriage was not invented or developed by human beings. Rather, it was ordained by God from the beginning, even before sin entered into the world. You have undoubtedly heard Genesis 2:24 read in marriage ceremonies: “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

As a result, the definition of marriage is a universal constant in our world, much as π is a universal constant in mathematics. People did not invent π; instead, the definition of π comes from way God designed circles. Although governments may change the legal value of π, they cannot change the actual, immutable constant built into the framework of our world.

On Feb. 5, 1897, the Indiana House passed 67-0 “a bill for an act introducing a new mathematical truth.” It redefined π as 3.2, 3.23, or 4, depending on how it was interpreted. Fortunately the Indiana Senate was warned by a Purdue professor and tabled the matter indefinitely.

The people of Massachusetts, however, did not fare so well. Their unelected supreme court recently bullied their legislature into changing the legal definition of marriage to be in conflict with the actual, immutable definition given by God for our world. Consequently, this ruling cannot and will not stand the test of time, and it will result in much pain and suffering in the meantime.

To reduce the danger of our Indiana Supreme Court committing the same errors, we strongly urge you to support this resolution.

Sincerely yours,

Robert G. Burger, Ph.D.