January 13, 2006

Need more evidence of cultural decline? Here in the United Kingdom, the words “marriage” and “wedding” have been purged from the register offices in the name of homosexual equality. The story in The Daily Mail features a woman in a white wedding dress and a man in a tuxedo with the caption “the traditional image: a bride and groom” in case people forgot what it looked like.

The register staff has been ordered to change all signs so that homosexuals signing up for civil partnerships won’t feel unequally treated. Marriages between men and women in Britain sill outnumber civil ceremonies by more than 200 to one.

Homosexual activists have long stated their desire to do away with marriage and the uniqueness of the male-female relationship. But they can’t build themselves up by tearing down marriage, which is in trouble enough.

People wonder about the consequences of a secular society. This is one of them. At a time when the government is trying to control out-of-control children, it might consider its out of control culture.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.