Marriage – the Foundation of Our Civilization

Sep, 2004

The birth of our country was a liberal idea. We revolted from England in order “to form a more perfect union.” The freeing of the slaves was a liberal idea, brought about by the Republican Party. The civil rights movement was a liberal idea. These were positive events.

The difference between those liberals and today’s liberals is the constant attempts to erode the very foundations of our civilization. Every child has heard the song, “The wise man builds his house upon the rock.” Yet today’s liberals feel they can unearth that rock without toppling that fabled abode.

Our founding fathers were liberal for their time. Yet almost all of them were devout Christians of one form or another. Their concept of “separation of Church and State” was designed to keep the State from interfering in the Church – not the other way around. Remember this country was founded by religious pilgrims fled here to avoid persecution of their church from the State.

Today, the left wants to take the words, “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance. They harass the Boy Scouts for (gasp) respecting religious belief. They forbid nativity scenes and demand we say “Seasons Greetings” instead of “Merry Christmas.”

If you think the left has not turned away from Judeo-Christian values, take a look at American Catholics. Before Ronald Reagan, Catholics voted over 90% Democratic. Now, most Catholics are Republicans. And you can thank the Catholic Cubans in Miami for electing Geoarge Bush as they were solidly behind Clinton in both of his elections. Yet liberal issues like partial-birth abortion and traditional family values (remember Elian Gonzalez?) drove these Democratic voters to the Republican’s corner.

Some decry that Republicans are no better than Democrats. Of course they aren’t. Both parties are made of people and people are prone to weakness. But there is no denying that Republicans defend family values while the people attacking those values are solidly democratic. 

Take the gay marriage issue. “They’re not bothering me - why not let them marry?” Because marriage is the bedrock by which our civilization is formed. It is an institution older than recorded history.

“Then – why not just redefine the word ‘marriage’? Why can’t we do that?” This idea is even more insidious than the first. George Orwell, in his classic 1984, brilliantly described what happens when you change the meaning of a word. C. S. Lewis does an equally good job in the forward of Mere Christianity. Both authors – wildly separated by faith and ideology – successfully argued that when you change the meaning of a word you change the meaning that that word once embodied. Ergo, when you change the meaning of the word “marriage”, you change what marriage is. You change what it is to be married.

“Family” is an institution that is designed to protect the female of the species. Developed over literally millenniums of time, it provides the mother with a stable environment to successfully raise her child. It is an idea that has tested over eons of time, credited by both liberals and conservatives as being the very foundation of our civilization.

And you want to change all that?