Does same sex marriage threaten or
affect my marriage? No, not really, but redefining marriage will have
devastating effects on the future of marriage, children and society. On June
26, 2015, in OBERGEFELL ET AL. v. HODGES, a decision was made in the Supreme
Court of the United States of America that will change history forever because
they redefined marriage. This redefining of marriage gives equal rights to same
sex marriages as marriages between persons of the opposite sex. The opposing
four dissenting Chief of Justices shared, “This universal definition of
marriage as the union of a man and a woman is no historical coincidence.
Marriage did not come about as a result of a political movement, discovery,
disease, war, religious doctrine, or any other moving force of world history—and
certainly not as a result of a prehistoric decision to exclude gays and
lesbians. It arose in the nature of things to meet a vital need: ensuring that
children are conceived by a mother and father committed to raising them in the
stable conditions of a lifelong relationship” (Roberts et al.). Marriage has
always been about family, not just love choices. It is about creating life and
continuing the population of this world. Redefining marriage has consequences
that will not be fully understood or seen for another thirty years, as the next
generation of children are raised without the traditional family support.
Jennifer Roback Morse shared, “Let me
remind you of the essential public purpose of marriage: Marriage attaches
mothers and fathers to their children and to one another. Once you replace that
essential public purpose with inessential private purposes, marriage will not
be able to do its job. But children will still need secure attachments to their
mothers and fathers; a need which will go unfulfilled. You're redefining
parenthood as a side effect of redefining marriage without even considering
what it is you're about to do.” Children have a need and desire to have a
relationship with both a father and mother as shown by a child of a loving gay
parent, Katy Faust. Katy lived with her mom and dad until they divorced, and
her mom had many female partners throughout her growing up years. Katy shares
that although she loves her mother and her mother’s partners, she disagrees
with the redefining of marriage. She said, “when it comes to procreation and
child-rearing, same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples are wholly unequal and
should be treated differently for the sake of the children. When two adults who
cannot procreate want to raise children together, where do those babies come
from? Each child is conceived by a mother and a father to whom that child has a
natural right. When a child is placed in a same-sex-headed household, she will
miss out on at least one critical parental relationship and a vital dual-gender
influence. The nature of the adults’ union guarantees this. Whether by
adoption, divorce, or third-party reproduction, the adults in this scenario
satisfy their heart’s desires, while the child bears the most significant cost:
missing out on one or more of her biological parents (Faust).
In “The Family, A Proclamation to the
World” it states, “The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and
woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within
the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor
marital vows with complete fidelity.” When we go against God’s plan for the happiness
of his children, we know there will be devastating consequences. Traditional
marriage has been the fabric of society for thousands of years and it is only
in the past couple of decades, since no fault divorce laws were passed, that we
have seen the breakdown of our society. Without strong traditional families,
the world as we know it, will continue disintegrate. When children are not
raised by both a mother and a father, there are serious social consequences in
society.
President Barack Obama shared, “We
know the statistics that children who grow up without a father are five times
more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to
dropout of schools, and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They are more
likely to have behavioral problems or run away from home or become teenage
parents themselves, and the foundation of our community are weaker because of
it.”
Ryan Anderson shares these thoughts before
the Indiana House Judiciary Committee, “At one point in America, virtually
every child was given the gift of a married mother and father. Those numbers
right now, more than 50 percent of Hispanic children are born outside of
wedlock; more than 70 percent of African American are born outside of wedlock.
The consequences for those children are really serious. The state’s interest in
marriage is not that it cares about my love life, your life, or anyone’s love
life, just for the sake of romance. The state's interest in marriage is
ensuring that those kids have fathers who are involved in their lives”.
Anderson also quotes Rutgers
sociology professor, David Pocono, as saying, “The burden of social science
evidence supports the idea that gender differentiating parenting is important
for human development and the contribution of fathers to child rearing is unique
and irreplaceable,” he then concludes, “we should disavow the notion that
mommies can make good daddies just as we should disavow the popular notion that
daddies can make good mommies. The two sexes are different to the core and each
is necessary culturally and biologically for the optimal development of a human
being.”
If we are to see a
successful world, we need to see successful families. When governments pass
laws that do not support the traditional family as being the basic unit of
society, it creates more problems for government to combat as shown by many
voices. As a society we need to start putting value and protection for the
traditional family. We need to get away from the idea of what is best for me
and my love life and turn to what is best for me and my family and society.
Selfishness has wreaked havoc on society, and it is time we look outward
instead of inward.
References:
Anderson, Ryan. House Judiciary
Committee Monday, January 13, 2014.
Morse, Roback Jennifer. Jennifer
Roback Morse testimony to RI House Judiciary on marriage
Roberts, Scalia, Thomas. Obergefell v.
Hodges, 576 U.S. (2015). Supreme Court of the United States pg. 44.
Photo Credit: https://www.familyfirst.org.nz/2017/09/pm-wrong-on-effects-of-redefining-marriage-in-nz-2/
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