In Defense of Marriage

In spite of what you heard from the media, the effort to modify laws and the constitution to define and protect the Christian definition of marriage is still alive and well. Here is the current state of affairs at the national level:

Last week, the U.S. Senate voted, in a 48-50 procedural vote, to kill the Federal Marriage Amendment.

Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 233-194 in favor of the Marriage Protection Act (MPA) which would take away from activist federal judges the power to declare the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. According to American Family Association legislation action reports, the DOMA says "that no state has to accept another state's marriage laws which legalize homosexual marriage." DOMA was passed in 1996 and signed into law by President Clinton.

In September, the House will vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment. If this amendment passes, then the FMA would go back to the Senate for another look.

Why is it important to support efforts to legally define marriage in accordance with the Christian view (one man and one woman)? As Focus on the Family cites it, "Marriage is a sacred, legal and social union ordained by God to be a life-long, sexually exclusive relationship between one man and one woman." The ideal situation, then, is for marriage to be between one man and one woman. Studies have shown that married couples are happier and healthier than unmarried couples or those cohabiting. According to James Q. Wilson, "People who are married...have higher incomes and enjoy greater emotional support." They live longer than unmarried couples, not only in the United States but abroad.

Studies have shown that children raised in these types of homes tend to be better adjusted and have fewer problems than children raised in other homes. As a Child Trends research brief summed up: "Research clearly demonstrates that family structure matters for children, and the family structure that helps children the most is a family headed by two biological parents in a low-conflict marriage. Children in single-parent families, children born to unmarried mothers, and children in stepfamilies or cohabiting relationships face higher risks of poor outcomes. . . . There is thus value for children in promoting strong, stable marriages between biological parents."

Our society has been established around the concept of a family consisting of one man and one woman united in holy matrimony. Other attempts at redefining the family, either through polygamous or same-sex unions, have shown detrimental effects on children and societal values. No culture in the world has ever tried to redefine marriage in such a sweeping scale as we are attempting now. It seems obvious that the redefining of marriage in this way will lead to a decline in moral and societal values in our culture. We need to support efforts to maintain marriage as God originally intended it.