"Has the sky fallen down since gay marriage began in other states?" “How has my gay marriage harmed you personally?”
These questions are implying that if society has not completely fallen apart since the advent of homosexual marriage a few years ago, then that must prove that the redefinition of marriage is harmless. Homosexual marriage advocates suggest that unless our own adult life has been turned upside down as a direct result of same-sex weddings, then gay marriage must be harmless. These questions are a shrewd attempt to frame most of the harms of homosexual marriage out of consideration. If same-sex marriage is truly harmful, the questions insinuate, then either society will instantly be catastrophically impacted or we will suffer immediate personal harm. If we have experienced neither, then there must be no harm. Seemingly suggesting that any valid argument over homosexual marriage is over and the case can now be closed.
However, one of the damages of so-called same-sex marriage is to the very institution and authentic understanding of marriage itself. Calling same-sex unions marriage radically transforms and obscures the fundamental meaning of marriage. It makes the publicly committed union of one man and one woman merely one possible form of marriage. This obviously opens the door to polygamy and polyandry. Calling same-sex relationships marriage teaches that marriage has no intrinsic need of a man and a woman and furthermore undercuts the idea that procreation is intrinsically connected to marriage. This harm will affect everyone, especially children.
The redefinition of marriage does not merely allow different understandings of matrimony, but forces everyone else to accept this dramatically altered conception of marriage and family in schools, law and in our public language. This recently occurred when the federal government reissued passport applications for children, removing the words “Father” and “Mother” and replacing them with “Parent 1” and “Parent 2.” It seems there is no need to be a child with a mother or father to get a passport today. As a direct result of the campaign to redefine marriage in our nation our law and educational institutions are being compelled to falsely state that there is nothing special about mothers and fathers raising children together and, specifically, that children do not need both a mother and a father. The notion of parenthood is being changed to consist in any arrangement of emotionally attached people who care for kids. And of course anyone who opposes these harmful developments is not to be tolerated, but in fact is called a bigot and treated as such.
These are just some of the possible answers to how the redefinition of marriage will result in real harm to others. The sky is not falling, but that does not mean that the fundamental building block of society is not being severely weakened and attacked. We have a chance to protect marriage by calling your State Representative or State Senator today and telling them not to support legislation that will redefine marriage in Rhode Island. If marriage means anything you want, then it means nothing. Change its meaning today and tomorrow it will mean something radically different.
