Marriage Articles
The Case for Traditional Marriage
Joseph Mattera
The presiding bishop of Christ Covenant Coalition and
Senior pastor of Resurrection Church of New York
We are presently living in a post-modern world in which truth
is defined solely by the eyes of the beholder. Consequently,
everything ever taught is open to redefinition, even something
as sacred as traditional marriage.
Proponents of alternate views of marriage say that both
traditional marriage and the nuclear family will become the new
dinosaurs with the present 60% divorce rate and the
fragmentation of the family. Furthermore, they do not believe
gender should come into play but that the only qualification for
civil unions or marriage between consenting adults is that they
love and are committed to one another.
Opponents of alternate views of marriage and family (including
this writer) believe that marriage is not a right but a
privilege that should only be legally conferred and recognized
as between one man and one woman. If, after all, the only
qualification for marriage and/or civil unions is the feeling of
love people have for one another, then what's to stop a man from
marrying his mother, daughter, sister, brother, pets, or
entering into marriage with multiple partners?
I don't believe a society should ever experiment with something
most consider the historical building block of civilization.
(Poll after poll shows that the vast majority of the American
public opposes alternate forms of marriage, including same-sex
marriage.) After all, marriage and family predate all religions,
laws, nations, and everything else that constitutes what we call
a normal society and culture. Instead of doing away with
traditional marriage because of heterosexual infidelity, we
should do all we can to advocate for its preservation because it
is not only a sacred institution respected by all major
religious traditions, but also a quality of life issue that
leaves us with no better option. (Do we see activist judges,
elected officials and those in the media saying we should do
away with all public schools because the dropout rate among
students in inner cities is more than 50%? Or do we see elected
officials say we are going to give away cocaine, heroin, crack
and ecstasy because so many young people are substance abusers?)
Seven reasons why traditional marriage should be legally
protected:
1. That same-sex marriage waters down traditional marriage is
shown by the fact that in 1989 the Nordic countries legalized
same-sex unions and in just 15 years, traditional marriage as we
know it is almost extinct. More that 85% of their young people
cohabitate without getting married and many of the small
percentage of those who do marry hide their wedding rings in
public for fear of being castigated by their peers.
2. Study after study has proven that two-parent households led
by a male and female committed to one another in marriage
creates the healthiest, most stable environment for children to
excel in every area of life (emotionally, financially,
physically, etc.).
3. That same-sex marriage is unnatural is shown by the fact that
these unions cannot reproduce children that are genetically from
both parents. (That older heterosexual unions cannot reproduce
children doesn't alter the fact that they at least model the
physical structure necessary for multiplication; plus, there
have been known oddities wherein older couples have been able to
have children.)
4. Married heterosexual couples statistically have better and
more frequent sex, are happier, live longer, make more money and
have less emotional problems.
5. Most of the adult population in prison come from broken,
fragmented families.
6. Traditional marriage is a universal social tradition that
predates all religions, laws, schools, and cultures; nations
that have had a breakdown in family values usually don't last
long because their ability to perpetuate stability ceases, e.g.
Greece, Rome, Sodom and Gomorrah.
7. 65% to 70% of the American people oppose alternate views of
marriage including same-sex marriage.
Seven ways to save the tradition of marriage:
1. Religious institutions should continually educate their
congregants on the values of traditional marriage.
2. Religious institutions should not marry any couples without
premarital and post-marital counseling, which should include
marriage support groups.
3. Parents, religious institutions, educators and elected
officials should work together to create a culture of
traditional marriage and family values with a
cradle-to-the-grave plan integrating home, church, and school.
4. We should enact the Federal Marriage Amendment that defines
marriage as only between one man and one woman (to protect the
states from activist judges and liberal special interest
groups).
5. Elected officials and judges should make it more difficult to
get married (e.g. make premarital counseling mandatory) and more
difficult to get divorced (e.g. do away with no-fault divorce
laws and ensure a process that includes adequate professional
counseling so that divorce becomes the final, not the first
option in difficult times).
6. Legally married heterosexual couples should take their vows
seriously and invest as much or more money on their marriage
relationship (including counseling, seminars, reading books,
listening to tapes, and having marriage mentors) as they spend
on their wedding day.
7. Push for more responsible media that lauds traditional
marriage and family values as opposed to the current climate
that lauds both heterosexual and homosexual sex outside of
traditional marriage.
While all of the current presidential debates are centered on
national security and the economy, history shows us that the
greatest security a civilization can have is to respect the
time-honored moral values handed down to us from our Creator,
which includes honoring the most sacred and oldest institution
in the world, traditional marriage. |
