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that and the liberals won't the conservatives own and use guns because they know darn well that there will be a purging.

That's the type of language I try to avoid using when I debate the issue.

Town Hall


Defend Marriage
How Does Legalizing Same Sex Marriage
Hurt Marriage, Children and Society?

By Sharon Slater
President, United Families International

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Those opposed to the MPA know that the American people overwhelmingly reject the idea that same-sex unions are the equivalent of heterosexual unions. They want to impose the will of the minority upon the majority and they do not want to get caught in the act. They dishonestly proclaim that those who are in favor of traditional marriage are trying to use the Constitution to take rights away from people – "rights" that have never existed and do not exist today.

Who would have thought there would come a day when standing up for marriage as the union between a man and a woman would be considered hateful? But, unbelievably, several U.S. Congressmen have now pronounced that standing for marriage is mean-spirited and proclaimed that those who support the Marriage Protection Amendment are "bigots."

The founding fathers must be rolling over in their graves. We are truly living in a world turned upside-down.

To openly gay Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who during the debate said, "The sky has not come crashing down despite the dire predictions." I say, "AIDS did not become a pandemic overnight." It will take at least a generation to see the negative results from such a rash experiment on our society.

So, exactly how does legalizing same-sex marriage hurt our marriages, our children and our society?

Once we abandon marriage to the whims and desires of adults seeking validation of their sexual lifestyles, we denigrate children and their needs – legally validating relationships that would deliberately leave them motherless or fatherless. And that hurts society. We have plenty of data to show what happens to children when they grow up without a father or a mother. Prisons are filled with adults who were fatherless as children. The financial burden of welfare and prison programs on society as a result of children growing up without their mother or their father is horrific. And that is not even taking into consideration the immense personal suffering that inevitably is too often hidden behind these statistics.

During the House debate Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) hit the nail on the head when he explained that legalizing same-sex marriage does not just expand marriage, it undermines it. It alters it to the very core and "totally severs it from its whole purpose, and that is the relationship between a man, a woman, and a child."

There is no such thing as same-sex marriage. It does not exist. It is an oxymoron because marriage is a relationship between a man and woman. We can make a law saying that oranges are apples and decree that all recipes including apples must now use oranges interchangeably, but I guarantee that the results will not be the same. You can mandate that those that grow apples must now use the techniques for growing oranges but you can't expect the same kind of fruit to grow.

If you change the definition of marriage you sever it from its very purpose for existing -- you sever reproduction from parenthood and that is a radical experiment. If you say gender doesn't matter to marriage, then you are also saying that gender doesn't matter to parenthood.

Marriage is not just about love and the legitimate or selfish needs and wants of adults. Marriage is about securing a father and a mother to their offspring. Congressman J.D Hayworth (R. AZ) took the floor and said, "Marriage is not about excluding a group of people. Marriage is about what is best for our children and our society."

Marriage, in and of itself, discriminates and rightly so. Marriage discriminates against polygamists, *****, those who wish to enter into legally sanctioned incestuous relationships, group marriage, and of course, marriage discriminates against same-sex couples who want to marry. The institution of marriage discriminates to make sure that those who marry have the potential to create children in order to perpetuate the human race; and that the union will provide children with what they need most -- a mother and a father legally bound together in a family relationship. Marriage confers benefits to potential parents as they create and rear children. The government does not care whom you love. The government has no interest in sanctioning love, friendship, or personal associations. It has a vital interest in encouraging what is best for society.

During the debate, several Democrats argued that children living with gay couples need the same protections as those living with heterosexual couples. I say to them, "WHERE ARE THE MISSING MOTHERS OR FATHERS OF THEIR CHILDREN?" They certainly had one of each. What scientific experiment or financial/legal arrangements were entered into to sever that relationship? Are children now to be considered as commodities that can be bought or sold at the whim of adults to interchangeable parents regardless of biology? What about the rights of the child?

Now you may be saying about this point that I have not addressed the first part of the question: How does this affect my marriage?

Try this analogy. Suppose you decided to become a doctor and you qualify and are awarded a license to practice medicine. Then suppose a special interest group of beauticians cry discrimination and pressure lawmakers to allow them to receive a medical license upon completion of beauty school. Would a simple medical license qualify a beautician to practice medicine? Would you want to receive medical treatment from such a beautician? I certainly wouldn't. A license alone, though necessary, does not qualify someone to competently practice medicine. It is their capacity to be a doctor that does. Simply issuing a license without demanding that the applicants meet the basic qualifications does not make for quality medical care.

So it is with marriage.

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