The debate over the sanctity of marriage is never out of the headlines for very long. With state Representative Deborah Mell’s recent announcement on the house floor that she would be travelling to Iowa to marry her girlfriend – it’s back.
The question becomes – are our Republican leaders ready to defend marriage properly yet? We often hear shallow rhetoric, and some legislators are able to talk about the issue without using only superficial rhetoric. But there is room for improvement for most of them.
Former Republican presidential nominee and Arizona U.S. Senator John McCain was recently given an opportunity to defend traditional marriage but wasn’t up to the task. His example, well…it’s exactly not the way to make the case for such an important institution.
The Illinois Family Institute’s David Smith has a great post today summarizing the issue. Frankly, if our GOP leaders would just memorize Dave’s main points they’d be good to go. Here’s just an excerpt:
Marriage is not a relationship that society created in order to give some people benefits and deny them to others. Marriage is the institution that societies worldwide have recognized and encouraged because this unique relationship between a man and a woman provides particular benefits to society, chief among them, the procreation and nurturing of the next generation.
If marriage were centrally or solely about affirming love between individuals, the government would have no reason to be involved in the business of sanctioning marriage. Government sanctions the type of relationship into which children may be born and raised because the government recognizes that that institution which best serves the needs and rights of children is the institution that best serves as the foundation to a healthy society.
Read his excellent article and note the reference to what society has learned about the “unique relationship between a man and a woman.” All of the sociological data backs up preserving traditional marriage.
For more information, I compiled information from the experts on the subject. The series is found in my archives.
