The Truth about Same-Sex "Marriage"

The good news: The U. S. Senate will vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment early next month. The bad news: There remains much confusion around the defining issues.

 

When asked about same-sex "marriage," many (including) Christians say that while they disapprove of homosexuality, they see no harm in gay "marriage." In light of the abysmal state of traditional marriage, they reason, why should we stand in the way of two people who love each other? Then there are those who believe that same-sex "marriage" won't affect them personally or their families.

 

Such thinking is not only the result of misapplied or misunderstood scriptural teaching, but the lack of awareness about the real agenda behind gay "marriage."

 

According to Scandinavian sociologist and prominent gay thinker Henning Bech, the gay marriage movement is not about marriage, but about social approval of the homosexual lifestyle. And that means tradition must be dismantled to re-define the norm. Why so? Ethicist J. Budziszewski answers, "...the [gay advocates] cannot be satisfied with toleration...[if] they want to belong as they are; there can only be one solution...The shape of human life must be transformed. All of the assumptions of normal sexuality must be dissolved: marriage, family, innocence, purity, childhood..."

 

Even more chilling is a statement by author Tammy Bruce. Ms. Bruce, a former insider of the gay movement, writes "For people whose entire identity and reason to live is based in their sexuality, what do they need to do in order to fit comfortably into our society? They must work to sexualize every part of society--and, as every good marketer knows, that effort must begin with children."

 

The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is a case in point. On March 25, 2000 GLSEN sponsored a statewide conference in Massachusetts to build more gay/straight alliances and expand homosexual teaching into the lower grades. Teenagers and children as young as 12 attended workshops conducted by homosexual activists from around the country.  What one adult described as "every parent's nightmare" were open and graphic discussions about homosexual sex, including the proper hand position for "fisting," the caloric value of seminal fluid, use of tongue rings in oral sex, and role-playing in which one student was asked to play a young lesbian enraptured with another woman. GLSEN is the same organization which, in 2003, published a high school curriculum on marriage rights for same-sex couples that is little more than proselytism under the guise of education.

 

For elementary school children, there is the story called "The Duke Who Outlawed Jellybeans." By appealing to the plights of Anna with two moms and Nick with two dads, this story indoctrinates children against the out-dated notion that children fare best when raised by their biological parents.

 

Then there is the documentary It's Elementary: Talking about Gay Issues in School. Having aired on 100 stations and acquired by nearly 2000 educational institutions, this film promotes the homosexual lifestyle while portraying those with traditional views as ignorant and violent. In one scene Jim Carry winches as he watches his character in a film mistakenly kiss another man. The message? That Carry's reaction was wrong.

 

The bid for same-sex marriage, as philosophy professor David Gushee explains, is the latest aftershock separating marriage from parenthood and from the interests of children. The first upheaval came during the 60's sexual revolution which resulted in the detachment of sex from marriage. Then in 1969 the passage of "no-fault" divorce "communicated...that the interests of children must give way to the interests of adults." The next seismic shift was created by Roe vs. Wade, which established a woman's near sovereign right to an abortion, further "[driving] a wedge between child-rearing and marriage."

 

Gushee notes the attitude that marriage is primarily about companionship, rather than children, is the result of our culture's growing egocentrism. And in the narcissistic aftermath, we have created a three-fold increase in children born out of wedlock since 1970. The human tragedy is that these children are more often victims of abuse, domestic violence, anti-social behavior, depression, substance abuse, and poverty than children brought up by their biological parents.  

 

How will same-sex "marriage" will affect this trend? We need look no further than Scandinavia. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark have had something akin to full gay marriage for over a decade now, resulting in some very disturbing trends.  As noted by Stanley Kurtz, since the inception of the gay marriage experiment, there has been a 25 percent increase in co-habitation and unmarried parenthood, such that 60 percent of children in Denmark are now born out of wedlock. That compares to a 33 percent out-of-wedlock birthrate in the U.S. Conclusion: gay marriage further undermines the welfare of children by deepening the existing wedge between marriage and parenthood.

 

So what is the proper Christian response? Fundamental to "lived-out" faith is the Cultural Commission, established in the opening chapters of Genesis. Our partnership with God, as caretakers of all that He has created, includes our advocacy and support of institutions that sustain and strengthen culture. For the issue at hand, that means engaging the hearts and minds of our family, friends, and community by "speaking the truth in love" about same-sex marriage.   It also means urging our elected officials to support laws--like the MPA--upholding the traditional institution of marriage. It is the one history has shown, that is best designed to grow and nurture the next generation.

Regis publishes a free weekly commentary to stimulate thought on current issues from a Christian perspective. To be placed on this free e-mail distribution list, e-mail him at: centurion51@aol.com.

 

For Further Information:

What We Can't Not Know--J. Budziszewski

The Death of Right and Wrong--Tammy Bruce

Backers of Gay Marriage Ban Find Tepid Response in Pews

 

Massachusetts News article, Students Given Graphic Instruction In Homosexual Sex

 

Critical Review of the GLSEN Same-Sex "Marriage" Curriculum

 

Sex Ed and Cooties

 

http://24.104.4.225/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/660zypwj.asp -- The End of Marriage in Scandinavia by Stanley Kurtz

 

A Crumbling Institution by David Gushee