Gay marriage proves detrimental to society

Breeze Reader's View

The Massachusetts Supreme Court made a landmark ruling last week, declaring that only allowing civil unions and not marriage for gay couples is "unconstitutional, inferior and discriminatory status for same sex couples."

If this ruling follows through, it will have social implications that will be detrimental. The very concept of marriage and family is being opposed. To understand how such a ruling can affect society in a negative way, we have to realize the importance of a family.

Families are the foundation of civilized nations. When children grow up in a home with a father and mother, they learn how to interact with others and learn morals and behaviors. With positive father and mother role models, boys learn how to be men and girls learn how to be women — they learn how to treat others in society.

It is not surprising that, with the decrease of traditional families, society's problems have increased. With divorce rates on the rise and the number of children born out of wedlock increasing, how can we expect a man to know how to be a good father or husband if he never had a father from which to learn.

The principle purpose of marriage is to form a family.

By ruling in support of gay marriage, the Massachusetts Supreme Court only is adding to a problem that already is out of control.

When trying to consider if gay marriage is really that big of a problem, we must consider what it will mean if it is allowed. By opening the door for gay marriage, the Supreme Court is paving the way for more radical social reform directed at mangling the definition of marriage.

Many groups associated with gay marriage advocates already are pushing to legalize polygamy and polyamory — group marriage, according to the Aug. 11 issue of The Weekly Standard. Some of these trials already have gone to court. Most of the defenders of polygamy and polyamory make direct comparisons with gay marriage.

Gay leftist Richard Goldstein stated that the political reluctance of gays to support polygamy was understandable, "but, our fates are entwined in fundamental ways," reported The Weekly Standard. The article also exposed other gay activists who advocated polygamy and polyamory because it has direct comparisons to gay marriage.

This year Stanley Kurtz, a researcher for the Hoover Institution, a research group, published an article Feb. 2 on how gay marriage has affected Scandinavia.

In the article, Kurtz shows how gay marriage has undermined the institution of marriage by "[driving] home the message that marriage itself is outdated, and that virtually any family form, including out-of-wedlock parenthood, is acceptable." He gives statistics showing how gay marriage has eroded the social structure of Scandinavian countries.

In Norway, a country with lower out-of-wedlock birth rates, stronger religion and public opposition to gay marriage, same sex marriage has played an especially detrimental role in the marital decline, Kurtz said.

"America's situation is not unlike Norway's in the early '90s, with religiosity relatively strong, the out-of-wedlock birthrates still relatively low and the public opposed to gay marriage," Kurtz said. "If, as in Norway, gay marriage were imposed … it would likely speed us on the way toward the classic Nordic pattern of less frequent marriage, more frequent out of wedlock birth and skyrocketing family dissolution."

President George W. Bush's response to the Massachusetts ruling was correct when he said it is "deeply troubling." Bush also condemned the court for over stepping its bounds by taking responsibility reserved for the legislature.

In the State of the Union Address, President Bush announced a proposal to add an amendment to the Constitution defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.

"The only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process. The nation must defend the sanctity of marriage," he said.

This amendment not only would change court rulings in favor of gay marriage, but it also would prevent other groups, such as polygamists and polyamorists from being able to pervert family values.

Many people, however, do not oppose homosexuality for social reasons, but for religious ones.

The Bible, the Torah and the Qur'an strongly condemn homosexuality. Scripture, doctrine or creed cannot justify any clergy that accepts homosexuality.

Some hold the opinion of Howard Dean, who said, "… if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have created gay people." Well, if God had thought killing people was wrong, he would not have made Charles Manson insane.

The media wants us to believe that the majority of Americans are accepting of homosexuality. Many television shows use gays as regular characters and portray homosexuality as popular. Anyone who tries to disagree with that kind of lifestyle automatically is demonized as a "homophobe" or as being close-minded and old fashioned.

The majority of Americans are opposed to gay marriage, according to a poll taken by FOX News Nov. 18, 2003. It shows only 26 percent of Americans are in favor of gay marriage. The poll also showed every social, age, gender and political group were opposed to same-sex marriage.

Gay marriage, if allowed, will erode the social fabric of society and will have repercussions that will destroy family values. This is fact. It already has happened in other societies, and it will happen here.

Shaun Madsen is a sophomore Spanish major.