People support Godly marriage not homosexual sin
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| English: National Organization for Marriage Executive Director Brian S. Brown at Madison rally. Summer for marriage tour (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Greetings from the state of Minnesota, where good people marched for marriage!
Hundreds of good people of every race, creed and color showed up to make it clear: Marriage is the union of husband and wife, not to be redefined by politicians.
I spoke on your behalf and on behalf of God's vision of marriage. WCCO-4 in Saint Paul, MN reported my speech this way:
"Proponents of same-sex marriage want us to believe that this is inevitable, this is going to come no matter what we do, so we might as well pack up and go back to our homes and stop fighting. We will never stop fighting for the truth," said Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage.
Senate Minority Leader David Hann (R-Eden Prairie,) also spoke up for marriage on Thursday: "We believe that marriage is not something that legislatures created or government created. We believe that marriage is something that God created and reflects an order that God created and it is the thing that unites children with their parents."
You'll recall that opponents of the 2012 Minnesota Marriage Amendment had promised voters the amendment was unnecessary—that you could vote "no" and nothing would change in the law on marriage. That proved about as true as promises in so many other states that civil unions and gay marriage bills would not compromise religious liberty.
Well, there is hope that Minnesotans are beginning to see through the other side's duplicity: a StarTribune pollreleased this week found Minnesotans oppose gay marriage 53 percent to 38 percent.
March for Marriage Update: Momentum Continues to Grow!
The March for Marriage in our nation's capital takes place on March 26—if you plan to attend, you can RSVP on Facebook by clicking here.
I was excited by the news recently reported by EWTN: "Leaders within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are encouraging their brother bishops to support the upcoming March for Marriage."
"We are grateful for this opportunity to express support for the Marriage for March and to encourage participation in this event," said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades and Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone in a letter to their fellow bishops.
"The march will be a significant opportunity to promote and defend marriage and the good of our nation, to pray for our Supreme Court justices, and to stand in solidarity with people of good will," their letter went on to say.
NOM Leaders Remind Us What We're Fighting For
We will be on the steps of the Supreme Court as the Justices take up oral arguments on the case that could ban Prop 8 and bring gay marriage to every state in the union, including yours. I hope that you can join us and stand alongside us as we demand justice for children and respect for our Constitutional right to speak, to donate, to organize, and yes to vote for marriage as the union of husband and wife.
NOM's Chairman of the Board, the distinguished law professor and litigator John Eastman, recently took our case to the media, smacking down the legal arguments for gay marriage in U.S. News and World Report. There is no civil right to same-sex marriage, he points out, because "the Supreme Court's recognition of marriage as a fundamental right has always been grounded on what makes marriage a unique relationship." He explains:
In Loving v. Virginia (1967), the Court defined marriage as a "fundamental" right because it is one of the "'basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival," a point which is only true because the institution is rooted in the biological complementarity of the sexes, the formal recognition of the unique union through which children are produced. [...] [The 14th Amendment's equal protection clause] requires that individuals who are similarly situated must be treated similarly. It should be obvious, but as long as procreation is an important part of why society lends its weight to the institution of marriage, same sex and opposite sex relationships are simply not similarly situated with respect to that important aspect of marriage.
Here's the bottom line, according to Professor Eastman: "Laws that foster the one relationship because of its unique ability to further the public good serve legitimate, even compelling governmental interests, and should be upheld."
Also recently, NOM's Communications Director, the dynamic young Thomas Peters, was on CNN, arguing the Supreme Court must respect our rights and the rights of 7 million Californians who voted for Prop 8. I really enjoyed watching him smack down the absurd meme that gay marriage is somehow important for economic growth (some people will say anything!):
Another member of NOM's family, Christopher Plante (NOM's Northeastern Regional Coordinator), was recently featured as a 'Rhode Island Power Player' in the local press, described as a person having a "large impact" on the state. As Chris told the media, "We've been told time and time again that same-sex marriage was inevitable and time and time again that has proven false. Of particular importance to us is working closely with our grassroots supporters, having them call, email, and visit their Senators, because it's the people who will ultimately hold these elected officials accountable."
They also asked him what his advice would be for the next Christopher Plante: "Have a thick skin and good sense of humor!"
Heightened Points of Interest in the SCOTUS Marriage Cases
President Obama, who has written movingly of his own longing for his absent father's love as a boy, is now in Court sadly arguing there's no evidence children need either a mother or a father.
Obama's Justice Department filed a brief "rebutting" the arguments made by supporters of Prop 8 that the ideal for a child is a mom and dad. "The [California] Voter Guide arguably offered a distinct but related child-rearing justification for Proposition 8: 'the best situation for a child is to be raised by a married mother and father,'" said the administration's brief, submitted to the court by Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr.
"As an initial matter, no sound basis exists for concluding that same-sex couples who have committed to marriage are anything other than fully capable of responsible parenting and child-rearing," the Obama administration told the court. "To the contrary,... children raised by gay and lesbian parents are as likely to be well adjusted as children raised by heterosexual parents."
There are a lot of objections you and I could make to irresponsible statements like these. But I like the response raised by a reporter who covered this story very well for CNSnews, Terence Jeffrey:
So far in the history of the human race, no child has ever been born without a biological father and mother. Now, in the Supreme Court of the United States, the Executive Branch of the federal government is arguing that, regardless of the biological facts of parenthood, states have no legitimate and defensible interest in ensuring that children conceived by a mother and a father are in fact raised by mothers and fathers.
In other SCOTUS news, Justice Anthony Kennedy—the swing vote who will likely determine whether our rights to fight for marriage in a democratic fashion will be respected and upheld, or whether our beloved Constitution will be misused as a weapon to strike down the definition of marriage in all 50 states and make gay marriage a part of our Constitution—had some interesting things to say recently.
Now, Kennedy has proved very sympathetic to various gay rights arguments and many people fear he will find a right to gay marriage in our Constitution. Of course, we won't know for sure until he actually issues a decision.
But for us, there was some hopeful news this week, when Justice Kennedy returned to Sacramento on the occasion of the opening of a federal courthouse library named for him. According to the Associated Press:
Justice Anthony Kennedy says he is concerned that the U.S. Supreme Court is increasingly the venue for deciding politically charged issues such as gay marriage, health care and immigration.The 76-year-old associate justice said Wednesday that major policies in a democracy should not depend 'on what nine unelected people from a narrow legal background have to say.'
I couldn't have said it better myself!
Ted Olsen and David Boies must be shaking in their boots as they read those words.
Do not believe the falsehood that gay marriage is inevitable. Join us on March 26 and speak truth to power; stand up for God's vision of marriage.
Speaking of which — here are some brave military chaplains doing just that — standing up for marriage and speaking truth to power. If you haven't seen it yet, please check out our brand-new MarriageADA video released yesterday about the perilous threat to our military chaplains posed by efforts to redefine marriage. And please send these brave men a note of support for standing up and lending their voice to bring attention to this important cause!
