The day after laying a wreath on the grave of Martin Luther King Jr., President Bush used a recess appointment to make Charles Pickering a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals without congressional approval.
Pickering's critics have a number of complaints about his record. Perhaps chief among them is the fact that he wrote a law review article outlining ways states prevent interracial marriage without being struck down by the courts.
The irony was inescapable.
But, listening to Bush's words, I began to wonder: Could he be right? "Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage," he said. After all, as he pointed out, marriage is one of the most fundamental, enduring institutions in our society.
I couldn't agree more. Clearly, we must protect marriage and the family. So, I encourage an even stronger stance than the president.
The federal government reports that in 2001, there was a divorce for every two marriages. Talk about damaging the sanctity of marriage! Talk about causing harm to children and undermining family values!
If gay marriage should be forbidden, so should divorce. As many opponents of gay marriage argue, the Bible says homosexuality is unclean.
Well, the largest religious denomination in this country ? Roman Catholicism ? takes a very strong stand against divorce, also based on biblical text. Matthew 5:32 says that anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
So, we can surely count on the support of the Religious Right as we work to ensure that the institution of marriage is protected from the harm divorce could cause it. And, speaking of adultery, as long as we're using the sledgehammer of federal legislation to protect the sanctity of marriage, shouldn't breaking your wedding vows be illegal too?
Nothing weakens society's "most fundamental, enduring" institution like faithlessness to its requirements, after all.
And, again, the Religious Right should support this amendment. No less of a moral authority than the Ten Commandments directly commands us not to commit adultery. There is no commandment against homosexuality, so perhaps this law should be our highest priority.
Of course, as we set about the work of using federal legislation to protect an institution that has survived on its own for thousands of years, there's always the slight chance we'll end up looking as ridiculous in 20 years as Pickering and the other opponents of interracial marriage look now. There's the risk that our children will look at us and wonder how we could've been so close-minded, how we could've thrown our support behind legislative gay-bashing and how we could've believed that it was our right to decide that those who once married wrongly never could again.
Nah, what am I saying? I wouldn't worry about that too much.
Write to Stephen at stevehj@mac.com.
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