Herbert Spencer once said, "The welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society." Spencer was a proponent of altruism, or putting societal interests above individual ones. Sadly, some don't share this view.
Fox News recently reported that homosexual advocates are arguing that marriage should be de-legalized because it's discriminatory. The discrimination in question is the benefits married couples get that unmarried couples don't, such as tax and travel benefits, immigration and social security. This approach represents a change in message from gay advocates.
This "new tone" follows a stinging slap dealt by the Arizona Court of Appeals to gay marriage proponents. The three-judge panel unanimously turned back a challenge by two gay men seeking a marriage license. They were attempting to use the Texas sodomy case's (Lawrence v. Texas) results as their foundation. The panel thought otherwise.
The judges found that the men had no standing based on the Lawrence decision. They ruled that gay marriage was "not a fundamental liberty interest protected by due process." In other words, they found that no fundamental right existed for same-sex unions based on prior Supreme Court decisions. The next day Fox News reported the new approach.
This paradigm shift reveals the homosexual advocacy groups' mindset. The very thing they claimed to desire -- marriage with all rights conferred -- is now something to be torn asunder. This shift demonstrates that homosexual advocacy groups are not seeking equality; they are seeking to have their chosen sexual orientation normalized in society.
The inherent problem with this objective is that it does not further society's welfare. The Arizona court recognized this in their decision, stating that "sanctioning same-sex marriages would do little to advance the State's interest." That interest is procreation.
The judges determined that since same-sex couples cannot procreate, their standing is not equal to that of a legally defined (one man, one woman) marriage. Gay couples wish to marry despite the fact that they cannot further society's continuation. Herein lays the true guts of the issue: putting individual proclivities above societal interests.
Same-sex marriage advocates are screaming that a small, minority group of same-sex couples who are physically incapable of creating life naturally should receive equal legal footing with the supermajority that produces and raises our future generations. These proponents believe the interests of a few should be equal with those of society.
That's not equality. If you elevate the interests of a minority who do not promote society's interests as a whole, you create special rights by elevating that group. The desires of a few do not trump the protection of the whole. Gay marriage advocates are asking for special rights, not equal rights.
By calling for the removal of marriage's legal protections, homosexual advocacy groups are attempting to de-legalize marriage in order to legitimize their chosen lifestyle, since any union would then be permissible. If allowed, this will desecrate our society's foundation: the nuclear family.
Study after study shows traditional marriages create lower child abuse rates, poverty reductions, less welfare dependency, longer life spans, lower health care costs and reduced criminal activity. For those reasons, among others, traditional marriage should be protected strenuously. Same-sex marriage advocates' actions prove their disdain and intolerance for a society that bore and nurtured them.
Write to Jeff at mannedarena@yahoo.com
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