Today, the cultural battle now rocking America concerning marriage and the right of homosexual males and females to have recognition of same-sex marriages is considered by many to be a virtual attack on civilization as we know it. Today, thirty-seven states and the federal government have laws that refuse to recognize gay marriages. In almost all polls taken on this subject, Americans oppose legalizing gay marriage by a 2-1 ratio. Nevertheless, gay marriage is closer than ever to becoming a reality.
At stake is whether the legal benefits of marriage should be extended to same-sex couples on such issues as child custody, extended adoption rights, tax benefits and medical care. Yet, the issues at stake here are culturally and religiously greater than any of the financial arguments that could be presented. Same-sex marriage threatens not just our way of life, but our very civilization. At the very least, same-sex marriage threatens the future of all marriage between people who hold to traditional values throughout the world. We know this because marriage is a timeless institution, and though there have always been relationships between gay individuals, the institution of marriage has always been recognized by the ruling authorities and by society at large as a union between a man and a woman. As marriage is the very foundation of society, tinkering with something so fundamental is surely dangerous and suicidal.
Advocates for gay marriage would argue that the truth is that same-sex marriage has a long and distinguished history. Judaic scripture, for instance, indicates that same-sex marriages were recognized in ancient Egypt. Of course, it's no secret that the ancient decadent Greeks and Romans eventually recognized homosexual marriage, not to mention imperial China and some Native American tribes and a host of other peoples living around the world. These voices fail to state that it is well noted by virtue of these cultures' disappearance from existence can be traced as being preceded by this culturally defaming practice. The movement's advocates state that there is no evidence that recognizing same sex marriage will destroy our country. They indicate, without historical evidence to back them up, that in fact, thousands of years of Egyptian, Roman, and Chinese civilization point to the opposite. In addition, these same adherents of the practice of gay marriage also claim that there is even evidence that the Catholic Church recognized same-sex marriage in the early Middle Ages. In fact, Scholars dispute widely whether any such proposed unions could actually be called marriages, and there is no evidence that the Church conducted formal ceremonies to recognize the bond between same-sex partners. The official Catholic encyclopedia defines marriage as, "The legitimate union between husband and wife. "Legitimate" indicates the sanction of some kind of law, natural, evangelical, or civil, while the phrase, "husband and wife", implies mutual rights of sexual intercourse, life in common, and an enduring union." The words "husband and wife" can only be interpreted as describing a male and a female. Even in the recent illicit and illegal same-sex ceremonies held in San Francisco the two participants are described as "Applicant One and Applicant Two". This is in great contrast to the Church's opposition to homosexuality itself let alone a supposed Church endorsement of same-sex unions being accepted by the church's leadership.
Therefore, the acceptance of this heretofore-unacceptable practice threatens to shake social norms right down to their foundations. To gay rights advocates, the movement toward gay marriages is the beginning of an inevitable civil rights battle that will lead to gay couples being treated the same as heterosexual couples. To opponents of gay marriage, it shows how judges twist rulings to fit their own beliefs, regardless of the law or public opinion. I would like to demonstrate what has brought America to the point of accepting such an historical and social taboo that could result in tossing civilization into the same ash-heap of history as all nations who have ventured down this path of no return.
The legal implications will most certainly present obstacles to other states taking the same action as this culture-breaking ruling by the Massachusetts State Supreme Court. The issue could wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court. It is clear that the supporters of gay marriage have chosen to use the activist courts to accomplish their goals. They have realized that society opposes, by a large majority, the practice of same-sex marriage and that they could never accomplish their goals by taking the route of state legislatures or by congress. This is evidenced by the complete lack of any laws from any state legislature to allow marriage between people of the same sex. Society's strong opposition to gay marriage was declared without doubt in a CBS poll taken right after the Massachusetts Court ruling. In that poll, it was determined that despite Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that the state could not deny gays and lesbians the right to marry, Americans continued to oppose laws allowing homosexual couples to marry or to form civil unions and the number opposing gay marriage is higher now than it was in July before the Massachusetts action. The CBS poll revealed that 61 percent of respondents said they were against gay marriage. That is an increase from 55 percent in July, and only 34 percent said they favor gay marriage, which was down from 40 percent five months earlier. Also, the public reversed itself on the overall question of same-sex relations. Half now think homosexual relations between consenting adults should not be legal. This is a reversal of opinion from the summer, when a majority of Americans thought gay relationships should be legal. More than half now favor an amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. Therefore, the various liberal courts, and in particular in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in complete disregard for the rights and the wishes of our Republic at large, have opened the door to this Pandora's box that once opened, will never be closed again short of a constitutional amendment to ban this socially rejected form of relationship. Don Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association, a group in Tupelo, Mississippi that opposes gay marriage stated, "In today's judicial climate, no law is safe,"
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