By Jeffrey T. Kuhner
Thursday, May 10, 2012
President Obama has made it official: He now supports same-sex marriage. It is his latest onslaught on traditional America. Mr. Obama has made history. He is our first commander in chief to openly embrace legalizing homosexual and lesbian unions. He has crossed a cultural watershed, paving the way for the eventual triumph of the homosexual agenda. Rather than being a victory for “civil rights” or “marital equality,” Mr. Obama’s decision puts America on the path to moral disintegration. We are one step closer to becoming like secular, post-Christian Europe.
For years, Mr. Obama claimed his position was “evolving.” Facing re-election and under growing pressure from liberal interest groups, especially the powerful homosexual lobby, he finally capitulated. His decision was not based on principle, but cynical politics. Mr. Obama needs the gay and lesbian vote to win in November. Immediately upon his announcement Wednesday, Hollywood donors opened their checkbooks. Millions were pumped into the Obama campaign coffers; the liberal base has been energized, and the cultural left is hailing Mr. Obama as the Martin Luther King of our time. The president believes it is an electoral masterstroke.
Instead, he has made a big mistake. Same-sex marriage is opposed by most Americans. On Tuesday, North Carolina became the 31st state to vote for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The referendum was not even close: More than 60 percent of voters supported Amendment One. The liberal media, such as the New York Times, consistently portray anti-gay-marriage advocates as bigots.
This is nonsense. Most Americans are neither intolerant nor bigoted. Rather, they understand that marriage is the basic institution of society. For thousands of years in the West, it has had a privileged role. Marriage solidifies the bonds between a man and a woman, laying the foundation for raising children in stable families. It is the glue that binds a functioning, viable social order. Marriage is the natural unit that enables society to perpetuate itself from one generation to the next. This is not hate; it’s common sense.
It is why, for example, the drive to ban same-sex marriage in North Carolina was led by black pastors and churches. It also is why the black and Hispanic vote was pivotal to passing California’s Proposition 8, which also upholds traditional marriage. Blacks and Hispanics - although key Democratic voting blocs - tend to be deeply Christian and socially conservative. Mr. Obama has put himself on a collision course with large segments of his base. He has kissed away major swing states, such as North Carolina and Virginia. He also is further alienating Middle America, which still believes in pro-family values. In short, Mr. Obama is committing political suicide.
Yet the same-sex-marriage issue is more important than simple politics. It is about the future of America’s civilization. Within hours of Amendment One’s victory, the pro-homosexual-marriage forces announced they would sue to block North Carolina’s constitutional ban. In other words, they repeated the Proposition 8 model: Circumvent defeat at the ballot box by asking leftist judges to trump the democratic will of the people. This is judicial tyranny masquerading as civil rights - a naked attempt by a minority to impose its neo-pagan immorality upon the majority. The homosexual agenda is a manifestation of the totalitarian impulse at the heart of liberalism: the desire by a ruling cartel to impose a social revolution from above.
Every major religious faith - Christianity, Islam, Orthodox Judaism - teaches that homosexuality is an abomination. Homosexual behavior, especially sodomy, is unnatural and immoral. It is absurd, bordering on social madness, to elevate gay and lesbian relationships to the sanctified status of marriage - a form of moral anarchy characterized by radical individualism, hedonism and sexual liberation. Same-sex marriage is a symptom of cultural decay.
Our Judeo-Christian ancestors understood something that postmodern liberals do not: The primary purpose of sexual activity is to procreate - to have children - within the boundaries of marriage. Romantic love, personal fulfillment, burning passion - all of these things are nice, but secondary to the real purpose and mission of marriage. Secular liberals are engaged in social engineering. They are fostering the myth that women and men are the same and interchangeable. According to Mr. Obama, a child needs two committed and loving parents - regardless of their gender. This is fantasy. A child needs a committed mother and father. Women and men are profoundly different; they have distinct natures, with unique biological, emotional and psychological characteristics. It is the fusion of these two divergent genders that provides the balance and harmony necessary for the healthy development of children. Hence, same-sex “marriage” is an oxymoron. It is akin to redefining gravity: an act of hubris destined to fail.
For decades, liberals - aided and abetted by the popular culture - have been bringing homosexuality into the mainstream. It is slowly being promoted in public schools and constantly being glamorized in television shows and movies. The more the homosexual agenda is spread, the more militant its advocates become. They no longer want toleration. They seek full social acceptance. Once marriage falls, only one institution will be left standing in their way: traditional Christianity. The ultimate aim of the radical left has been to destroy religion - especially Western Christendom. Once a religion dies, so does the culture and civilization it spawned. America is at a crossroads, enmeshed in a cultural war with homosexual advocates like Mr. Obama who are determined to strike at the very nexus of our civilization.
Jeffrey T. Kuhner is a columnist at The Washington Times and president of the Edmund Burke Institute.
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