This is not a new argument. Over a decade ago, Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson, and Robert P. George wrote What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: a Defense. In that book, they maintained what had been a near-universal understanding of matrimony: a comprehensive union of persons that includes both bodily union (which organically connects the individually incomplete reproductive systems of a man and a woman) and mental union (consent). The complementary, heterosexual nature of marriage was accepted and understood across nationalities, cultures, and religious communities—across millennia. Back then, the push was to redefine marriage to include same-sex unions, which sever from marriage the bodily union of the two sexes, thus reducing marriage to a consent-based contract.
The warning from conservatives was straightforward: Things will not end there. For one thing, any society that has the arrogance to assume the authority to radically redefine matrimony will probably also assume the rest of reality is malleable to its preferred whims. For another, once the law of the country severs marriage from the bodily reality of sex, we can expect less fundamental aspects of traditional marriage, as upheld by the Christian faith that built our civilization, to erode.
What aspects are these? Monogamy and age. After all, other cultures have allowed for polygamy. And, as for the age for legal marriage, it can vary. Generally, it involved an understanding that those getting married were old enough to lead their own family lives and be parents themselves. But humanity has always understood marriage to be a union between the two sexes, even in cultures that countenanced homosexual behavior.
Traditional conservatives knew that undermining marriage and the family would bode ill for the country. Kids thrive under the care of a mom and dad, and we were already seeing the domestic devastation that arose from no-fault divorce. Moreover, for conservative Christians, there was a Biblical, crystal-clear conviction that sin is bad for us, no matter how pleasant or socially celebrated it may be in the short term. And so conservatives, particularly the religious sort, warned that even greater distortions and innovative corruptions were waiting in the wings.
Read more at WORLD Opinions.
St. Jude's Anglican Church
We are a parish of the Reformed Episcopal Church. We have been worshiping together in the greater Richmond area for over a decade. We’d love to have you join us for Christian worship in the rich Anglican tradition.
