A second function of the family unit is the preparation of children to be solid and productive contributors to society. This education is best accomplished at home by a loving father and mother. It is accomplished when children see their parents functioning and interacting with others in their communities and learn to imitate the things they have seen. Both parents have a vital role in this. The child does not get the best instruction when the family unit is broken such as in the case of a single-parent family or when both parents are the same sex. The government-controlled schools have tried to usurp this societal training function from the families and the results have been disastrous (but that is a discussion for a different article).
A third function of the family unit is religious training. Children are a gift from God and parents have a fiduciary responsibility to raise them in accordance with his precepts. Again, this is best accomplished in a traditional two-parent family in which both the father and the mother complement each other in the instruction of the children. Proper religious training can be done successfully in a single-parent family but it is not the best option. It can't be done in a family in which both parents are the same sex because that situation violates the biblical teachings on homosexuality.
Children need both a strong father and mother in order to reach their full potential. This is the way God designed the family unit to work. Anything else is at best less than optimal and at worst detrimental to society. We should always strive for the optimal solution. As such we can see the damage that same-sex marriage is doing to the family unit and it must be opposed. To do less is to advocate the destruction of society as we know it.
So, what do you think about this issue? Do you agree with my assessment or not? Please leave a comment and share you thoughts.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Dr Robin Guthrie
" Same-sex couples by themselves are probably not enough to cause this overall population decline but it is an increasing factor in the equation."
Get real. The world is VASTLY over populated.
Nothing to do with gays
2 - Tom Shelton
Over populated? Are you serious? We have no such problem.
3 - Christopher Rose
This writer is confusing many things that are not the same.
Not only is there no attack on the family taking place, but the author seems to be confusingly equating the legalization of same sex marriages as an attack on the family and marriage itself.
Presumably the affliction of monotheism is a major contributing factor in the lack of clarity and reasoning...
4 - Tom Shelton
There is no confusion. The family unit and marriage are under attack. There is a concerted effort to redefine what these things are and in the process fundamentally change society. If successful, it will be devastating.
5 - Arch Conservative
I consider my self pretty socially conservative and traditional but I don't know if I buy the argument that same sex marriage is an attack on traditional families.
I think many people that oppose gay marriage may do so because they have never actually met any gay people and their preconceived notions as to what all gay people must be like are derived from popular culture which would have us believe that every gay man is some light in the loafers, melodramatic, foppish effeminate lisping character or that every gay women is some flannel wearing, crew cut having, butch brute. That's no more accurate than the notion many northerners have that would depict every southerner as some dimwitted, toothless banjo playing bafoon.
I used to oppose gay marriage but then I got to thinking. There is so much hatred and misery, and people doing bad things to one another in the world. Given that, if two consenting adults, who happen to be the same sex, wish to be together and call it marriage, to live together in a committed monogamous relationship......to go to bed each night with each other only to wake up together the next morning to go out to go out in the world together and experience the same things that straight couples experience and derive happiness from......... Who am I or you to deny that? How can allowing that be wrong?
Oh and if the argument is that the church says it's wrong. Save it. I'm conservative, not religious.
As for the argument that gay marriage hurts the family because gay couples cannot reproduce and gay marriage reduces the number of straight couples having kids.......that makes absolutely no sense. First of all heterosexual couples are not going to stop getting married and having kids if gay marriage is legalized nationwide. That's just not going to happen. Second, gay people are not going to stop being gay and suddenly enter into heterosexual marriages and have kids if we ban gay marriage. Thirdly, gay couples can in fact have children. Many gay men may choose to have children via a surrogate mother and many gay women may choose to have their own children through artificial insemination.
I do believe the best environment for a child to be raised in is one in which there is both a male and female parent so that the child may have both influences in his or her life. However that is not to ignore the fact that even when there are parents of both genders those parents can sometimes be horrible parents who do grave emotional, mental and psychic damage to their very own children. I also believe that it is possible for gay couples to raise well-adjusted children who will grow up to be productive members of society.
Tom as I have said I am fairly conservative and traditional with regard to most things in life but I do take umbrage with your assertion that one of the purposes of the family unit is for religious training. I practice no religion and will not indoctrinate into them any specific religion while I am raising them. Is it your belief that I am a bad parent then. That my children cannot be of good moral fiber? That they are somehow inferior to other children their age for the mere fact that they don’t have some form of organized religion in their lives? Oh and you did not specify a specific religion. Do you believe there is a specific religion that the American family unit in 2011 ought to adhere to?
You asked for comments and feedback on your article. It’s my opinion that your arguments are narrow- minded, ignorant and illogical. There are much, much more pressing issues tearing at the moral fabric of our society, and degrading the quality of our discourse and our lives in 2011 such as the far left statism that has invaded the body politic like a cancerous tumor, the power hungry, narcissistic, maniacal, necon globalist new world order freaks that want to control the entire world, and the zealots who gleefully relish in the infanticide being committed which they’ve taken to calling “choice.” No sir, gay marriage, when viewed properly, is the last of the of worries among those of us concerned with our culture and society sinking into that great abyss of degenerate moral relativism.
6 - Dmitriy
Many heterosexual people choose to adopt children and GASP never have biological children, same goes for those who would rather not have any children whatsoever. Yet there is no "population decline". Homosexuality isn't something that people take up unless, you guessed it: attracted to the same sex. Many gay people furthermore have children of their own or adopt hose very same kids that heterosexual people supposedly exist to produce, but would rather not care for.
And sir let me remind you: america has 300+ million people living in it , the world has close to 7 billion: chances are the population of the world will keep growing and won't be in decline even if you "ban gay marriage".
7 - Dmitriy
For all you're talk of "protecting children" you see to be ignoring the fact that there will always be gay children. who like other children deserve to be treated with respect, and dignity rather than be the victims of misinformed individuals who are convinced that if we don't treat gay people like shit, we'll live in a society where "homosexuality will be promoted" and people will magically take up a sexual identity(that is obviously at odds with the fact that they're not gay).
8 - Alabama Patriot
Liberals & progressives, so overwhelmingly concerned about the "democratic" means to run a country & decide key issues, show us that they'll continue to pander to minority special interest groups with lots of money. Nothing more. Unions, illegals, gays, any topic to change the subject.
9 - zingzing
"Many will ask how legalizing same-sex marriage can damage the family unit. Let me take a moment to explain."
it's hard to remain calm when one sees flat out bigotry, but i'm going to do my best. your religion (as evidenced by your third "function of the family" or whatever,) has lead you down a path towards hate and fear. do you think that's what your god wants? you see threats where there aren't any and you shield your eyes against reality. a truly functioning society lives in harmony (kind of like a gay couple taking up the unwanted children of heterosexual couples and giving them a family that they never would have had otherwise). if a society functions improperly because one group would deny another group their happiness, who is the bad guy there?
frankly, your assessment is disgusting, since you asked.
10 - Tommy Mack
The argument put forth is narrow-minded just as fascism, nationalism, ageism, and classism are, where stereotypes overcome logical thinking.That this article condones sexism is obvious. Judgments based upon gender rather than upon individualism and an assumption that, heterosexually, one sex is superior to another are also made clear.
The bigotry expressed in the article attempts to dodge the civil rights issue involved. The Supreme Court ruled on the legality of separate but equal treatment in Brown v. Board and found such laws unconstitutional. Clearly, there is a failure here to recognize that the New York decision affirms the guarantee of equal protection for all, a far more important concern than the author’s bigoted ideology.
New York’s marriage law is not only historic, it means that six states plus the District of Columbia provide the freedom to marry to same-sex couples. It is a victory for civil rights and Equal Justice Under Law, which is literally carved in stone at the Supreme Court.
Tommy
11 - Tom Shelton
Zingzing,
You said "it's hard to remain calm when one sees flat out bigotry"
My comments in no way are examples of bigotry. I have spoken out against the actions of some people not the attributes of the people. Bigotry, like racism, is a prejudice against something people have not control over such as the color of their skin or the country of their birth. Unfortunately, many people use these terms too broadly.
My religion has not lead me "down a path towards hate and fear". The opposite is true. I am a christian and we are taught that it is an act of love to tell sinners of their need for a savior. Homosexuality is a sin (God calls it an abomination) and homosexuals are sinners just the same as all people are. As a Christian, I am duty bound to resist the spread of the sin and the acceptance of the spread of sin as much as possible. The acceptance of same sex marriage and the resulting attack on the family should be resisted by all believers.
While I agree that no group should be discriminated against in a society that does not mean that the society should not be able to determine what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Happiness is not the measure we should use when we determine if a society is functioning properly. There are many measures that could be used but the only one that matters is the Creator's measure. Why did he create the society. We are told that the Creator created in order to glorify himself. Acceptance of homosexuality and the destruction of the family do not bring glory to God and therefore should be opposed. No doubt you will find that assessment "disgusting" also but I am okay with that.
12 - Tom Shelton
"It is a victory for civil rights and Equal Justice Under Law, which is literally carved in stone at the Supreme Court."
It is not a civil rights issue. No one has been denied the right to marry based on something they can't control (such as the color of their skin). The homosexual agenda has tried for years to equate their fight with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. They are not the same and never will be. The homosexual agenda is about normalizing the behavior of a very small but vocal minority.
I reject the claims that this is a civil rights issue. It never has been and it never will be. I also reject the claim that this is about equality. It is not, it is about granting preferred rights to a very small minority. We should all oppose this.
13 - Christopher Rose
It isn't "an act of love to tell sinners of their need for a savior"; it's the act of an interfering, controlling busybody who doesn't know how to mind their own business and let people live the way they want to.
14 - Glenn Contrarian
Tom -
I hope that someday you can grow out of your prejudice and bigotry and look beyond what you were probably taught as a child. I was once as you are now...but now I know better.
15 - Tommy Mack
"I reject the claims that this is a civil rights issue." That is what all bigots and racists say, just before they recite scripture and put on their hood.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case.
Tommy
16 - Jim
One of the flaws in your argument is the illogical suggestion that more married gay couples will result in fewer married straight couples. That makes no sense. Making gay marriage legal doesn't make more people gay, so, obviously, it doesn't take away from the pool of straight people who will get married and have children.
17 - zingzing
"Bigotry, like racism, is a prejudice against something people have not control over such as the color of their skin or the country of their birth."
ah, the old "it's a choice" thing. suck my dick then. go on. prove your point. but wait! before you start sucking, you also have to like it and desire it. a lot. enough for you to give up on women in all ways sexual. that's the choice.
you are a bigot. you're just too deep inside that bigotry to realize it. you think you've rationalized your way out of it, but by doing so, you've exposed your ignorance. and you're happy to live under the delusion you've decided to adopt.
so now you're just an ignorant, deluded bigot. that's much better, isn't it?
the moment you start sucking, however, all is forgiven.
18 - Baronius
It would be discrimination to oppose gay marriage. It's not discrimination to oppose same-sex marriage.
19 - Christopher Rose
Can you explain the difference there, Baronius?
20 - Help me out
can someone explain to me how gay couples that already exist and will take up the right to marry will create a population decrease???
i'm just not understanding all the conservative slippery slope hate propaganda here
21 - Arch Conservative
This is a stupid article chock full of inane, illogical arguments.
We may be on the same side of many arguments Tom but don't think the fact that your going to great lengths to be coy about your religious fundamentalism will prevent me from telling you to take your bible and shove it [Gratuitous vulgarity deleted by Comments Editor].
22 - Tom Shelton
Who said I was being coy about my faith? I don't hide the fact that I am a Christian and that my faith is the foundation of all that I believe. I don't try to separate my faith from the rest of my life. I don't believe that is possible.
For the record, I am a reformed southern baptist. Many would consider me a fundamentalist. I believe that a person of faith must live out that faith in all aspects of their life and I don't apologize for it. We all have something that is the foundation for how we live. Anything other than the bible will lead us to destruction.
23 - El Bicho
"Do you agree with my assessment or not?"
No I don't, and I feel sorry for any children who have to endure your brainwashing.
24 - Tom Shelton
Brainwashing? Since when is it brainwashing for a parent to pass along their values to their kids? Is it also brainwashing for liberals to teach their kids to be liberals?
25 - El Bicho
Who is bringing political ideology into it? It's your warped, narrow-minded religious values I am commenting on.
Thankfully as the species evolves and becomes more enlightened, your line of thinking is diminishing among reasonable people.