Harm caused by same-sex marriage (SSM)

According to some religious
and social conservatives

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Background:

OneNewsNow is a division of the American Family News Network, a fundamentalist Christian organization. They frequently post questions to their website visitors, and report the percentage of visitors for, against, and unsure each topic. In early 2008-AUG, they posted the question:

"Because of developments in Massachusetts and California on the issue of homosexual 'marriage,' is a federal marriage amendment needed more now than ever?"

You may have noted that the pollsters enclosed the word "marriage" in quotation marks. This is common practice among social and conservative writers who wish to denigrate the concept of same-sex marriage (SSM). The implication is that a SSM by a loving, committed couple is not a "real" marriage.

The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) was originally proposed as a stealth amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would prevent any benefits normally given to married opposite-sex couples from being also given either to same-sex couples or to unmarried opposite-sex couples. It would also define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. Later versions of the FMA merely defined marriage across the nation to prohibit SSM without attacking unmarried opposite-sex couples.

At the time of the poll, loving committed same-sex couples who live anywhere in the U.S., and probably elsewhere, could marry in either Massachusetts or California. Thereby, they picked up all of the state's rights and obligations that in the past had been a special privilege given only to opposite-sex couples. The same-sex couples are not given the federal rights which accompany opposite-sex marriages, These benefits total in excess of 1,100 privileges.

New Yorkers can even return get married in one of the few states that allow SSM and, return to their state of residency, and have their marriages recognized. Few if any of the other states will extend recognition -- at least without a court battle.

Poll results:

As of 2008-AUG-03, the opinion of the 6,428 persons responding to the OneNewsNow poll was:

	92.6% in favor of a Federal Marriage Amendment.
	6.5% opposed.
	1% unsure.

Support for the FMA is massively in excess of its actual support among the American people. That is to be expected because the poll was taken among those visitors to a social/religiously conservative web site who most likely agreed with the site's anti-gay viewpoints. Also, the question assumes that the FMA has been needed in the past. That would bias their visitors in favor of answering "yes."

Poll comments left by voters:

Of particular interest were the 28 personal comments that voters posted on the poll results page. The names and locations of the posters were not listed. However, their comments seem to have reflected their sincere and serious concerns. The copyright for their comments remain with the posters themselves. Since they were all relatively short, it is within copyright law for us to quote them in full here.

The headings in bold were added by us. We also corrected spelling and grammar to make the postings more legible.

	God will send sexually active homosexuals to Hell to be tortured for all eternity: "The thing is, homosexuals are trying to change the thinking of the main stream of the entire world. They are already trying to make young children think that this kind of behavior is perfectly fine, in order to increase their backing and their future sexual prospects. They are leading a large portion of the world's population to hell with them. When they die, they will fall face first into a burning lake made of fire that never goes out. Satan and his demons are using this homosexual agenda to take souls away from Christ. If we continue to tolerate it, then we continue to tolerate the work of God's enemies."
	Liberals in Congress would rather change marriage to be for same-sex couples only: "I believe a marriage amendment specifying that marriage is between one man and one woman is necessary, however, with the liberal congress now in power, I fear they would make an amendment allowing the opposite instead. So regrettably, I believe it would be safer to leave well enough alone at the present time."
	Same-sex couples are incapable of forming families either by adoption or artificial insemination: "It's a crying shame that it has come to this but I believe that the time has come. I believe that marriage is a sacred ceremony dedicating your life to your partner through your vows. However, it applies to heterosexual couples only, for the purpose of establishing family and heritage rights and privileges that can only be achieved by M/F marriage and is designed in the Bible by God for the protection of these children's rights. It was not designed to promote the sin of Sodomy. nor to promote these "alternate lifestyles" that people try to invent for themselves."
	Allowing any same-sex couple to marry anywhere is personally offensive: "I am a Catholic and in my religion, marriage is one of 7 sacraments that we may receive in our lifetime. The 7 sacraments are highly revered by Catholics worldwide. I feel very offended that same-sex marriage is accepted anywhere in our nation."
	FMA is needed to protect marriage at the state level: "For years now James Dobson of Focus on the Family has been urging a Federal Marriage Amendment. It has largely fallen on deaf ears among our Senators and Congressmen. They kept saying to leave it up to the states. The states spoke up. Many of them have it in their constitutions and some of them don't. Some that don't have laws about marriage between one man and one woman. Those states are not protected fully. The rest of the states are not protected at all. Even those who think they are protected fully a panel of judges can come along and change whatever they want against the will of the people. Sen. Obama and Mrs. Pelosi have already said if he reaches the Presidency they will overturn the DOMA laws first thing. This must become a Federal Amendment. No question about it."
	God will no longer protect America: "I think every thing possible should be done to protect the marriage act. But realistically I feel America has stepped so low in morals that God is lifting his hand from her. Our churches are giving in to the homosexual's, government and schools. Every Christian should drop to their knees and repent and ask God to restore America. November will really tell the story. If Obama is elected, homosexuals will get their way and babies will be aborted and left to die if born alive. If that happens America is finished for certain."
	Same-sex marriage is a cosmic battle between God and Satan: "Folks, make no mistake, The Homosexual Movement and Satan are 2 Pea's in a Pod. Neither want tolerance or even acceptable recognition. Both want absolute acceptance and total control. Period. It is the Christians who have been complacent and stood on the sidelines of the Spiritual Battle who are to blame for the shape this country is in today! How many Christians are still buying their kids Happy Meals at McDonalds while McDonalds happily gives their money and support to an organization and lifestyle that is determined to send their kids to Hell? If you don't understand that ultimately that is what all this is about - winning souls to Christ or losing them to Satan - you are sadly spiritually blind."
	The Bible condemns homosexuality; Polygamy never existed in biblica times: "To those who voted NO or Unsure, I would like to what is your reason for your decision. If we are making an opinion on ANYTHING other than what God's word says we are in the wrong. God loves the sinner but makes it very clear that he hates the sin. He who created the world has a reason why he makes these guidelines. It is for our best interest. To those who do not know the Lord they are in a position where I was at one time LOST. Let the Lord come into your life and open your eyes to see. You will be thankful that you did. How will you know if you do not ask? Yes, to an amendment. Marriage has always been since the beginning of time between a man and a women and has worked rather well."
	Allowing same-sex marriage will lead to adult-child marriages and legalized pedophilia: "I believe we must be diligent in the fight against immorality in our society, because affects our family stability. In two states there are people in charge who are trying to change our society by changing the marriage rules. The next step in this insanity will be to lower the marriage age so evil men can marry and molest children legally. I think we should vote on it nationally by attaching the question to the presidential election ballot and put an end to the disgusting direction liberals and gays want to take our nation. By the way, Christianity is not the only religion to oppose gay marriage."
	Salvation by trusting Christ is the paramount need: "Christ did not come to change outward behavior (through government intervention), but to die so that people could have a new heart; for if one's heart is changed to Christ, his behavior will be changed as well. Instead of focusing on changing behavior, we Christians should sink ourselves into the people with whom we come in contact so that they can come to know Christ and their hearts can be changed."
	If homosexuals trust Jesus they will become either heterosexuals or celibate: "God will give them over to their own desires. 1 Cor. 6:9 They need the blood of Jesus. Pray for them. God loves the sinner but hates the sin."
	FMA would be useless: "I do not believe that an amendment will make any difference. There are so many areas of the constitution that are now ignored, what makes us think this one will be respected? We need to be at work to change the attitudes of people about marriage, starting with little children and in our churches."
	Political trickster: "We, the voters of Indiana, had a Congressman John Hostettler, who was very conservative, but he believed that the federal government had no business in saying what marriage was nor wasn't. He refused to back the federal marriage amendment. For years, the Democrats here in Indiana had been running liberal Democrats against Hostettler and they lost big time. This past election, the Dems saw their chance. They ran Brad Ellsworth, a so-called "blue-dog" Democrat who was supposed to be conservative on issues like marriage between one man and one woman, against abortion, and against homosexual "marriage." Well, we were duped. He says one thing and then does another. He endorsed Barack Obama for President, the most liberal candidate ever to run for the presidency on the Democratic ticket. We will remember you, Brad."
	Same-sex marriage triggered by lack of prayer in schools: "This whole thing is SO pathetic! Why should the sacred institution of marriage (between 1 man and 1 woman) even be in question? When did we blink, and suddenly have to have a federal marriage amendment at all? It is our fault (the Christians) for letting the gay agenda take root, in the first place. We are the last ones to do anything about a situation, but we are the ones who cry the loudest when bad things happen. We all sat silently by, while Madalyn Murray O'Hare, had prayer thrown out of our schools, now look what is happening. Pray for our country!!! Time is short, let's pray for the gay people, that they will come to the Lord, before it's too late!"
	We can protect traditional marriage, and must do this for the sake of our descendents: "I agree that it's hard to believe that we have come to this state in America, but, YES, it's worth the effort. We can stand and fight for righteousness for the sake of our children and grandchildren and love people into the Kingdom at the same time. Keeping quiet and putting our stamp of approval on sinful and unhealthy lifestyles is never the answer. The reason we're in this mess is that evil flourishes when good people do nothing-and that's what most good people have been doing for too long -- nothing."
	Media to blame; allowing same-sex marriage will hurt my family directly: "did we not see this coming? we support all the entertainment featuring the alternate lifestyle and they have become wealthy people and with enough power to overcome objections of people who have political hopes and know these people have money. I don't object to what they do in their own homes but I don't want it shoved on my family. We really haven't seen anything yet. Vote in Nov."
	Homosexuality is a choice; we must win the SSM battle: "I believe it is long overdue for Christians to start recognizing that this is a fight we can win and must win for the protection of everything that is precious to us. This issue overflows to all aspects of our lives. We need to stand up and say, "Enough is enough!" We need to pray for these people who "believe" that they are born as homosexuals. This is a choice. It's not a right, it's not culture, it's not a religion. It is a choice. We too, have a choice; do we do nothing and gripe about the outcomes or do we stand against the tide, united with our Heavenly Father to defeat this unjust issue and save the innocence of our children? I say our children are worth it, don't you? We need this marriage amendment and we should be inundate our representatives to vote our voice on this matter."
	SSM is not important; helping persons in need is: "What's really needed is someone to do God's work of feeding the poor, taking care of homeless, especially children and doing the things god specifically asked us to do."
	Don't attack homosexuality; attack fundamental problems: "Gay marriage is only a symptom of a deeper ill in today's America. We need to root out the illness, instead of simply throwing new laws at the symptoms."
	Ditto: "The previous poster's alternative seems VERY worth pursuing. If you think so as well, please write to your local representatives about it (they all have e-mail addresses, so it will only cost you a moment of time)."
	God will punish, and perhaps exterminate, everyone who supports marriage equality: "I feel sorry for the lawmakers in congress who have gone against God. Remember Madelyn O'Hare? And I am afraid of God's wrath for California and Mass., remember Sodom and Gomorrah? It's not a fairy tale."
	FMA needed to combat tyranny: "Due to tyrannical forces, we do need to change our constitution to make it clear that marriage is between a man and a woman."
	SSM a positive influence: "Let this issue go. Same sex-marriage can only stabilize marriages and society. God has not wreaked havoc on MA, CA, nor any of the progressive countries allowing marriage equality for all. Look for real issues that harm God's earth and let this one go."
	Marriage under attack; God ordained traditional marriage: "The definition of marriage is greatly under attack. How much more will people come to realize that marriage needs to be protected and is indeed therefore between one man and one woman. How much more will the courts, Massachusetts, and California continue to keep mocking the foundation of marriage that God ordained."
	God will punish gays; gays don't need the protection of marriage: "I can't believe America has come to the situation we have been facing constantly with the issue of gay people. If they want to live together that's their business, but this marriage situation is ridiculous. The risqué parades they are having in S.F. and all the publicity about gays is sickening to most people. God will punish these sick people."
	Saving souls more important than fighting SSM: "I wonder if it is worth the effort. I know that we need to stand against evil and at the same time we might be being drawn into a battle that will just use up our God given resources and not gain anything for the kingdom of God. Perhaps we should focus on spreading the Gospel and loving folks into the Kingdom. Just a thought."
	An alternative to the FMA: "If it should appear that the votes are not there for such an amendment, an alternate move which might have a better chance of flying would be an amendment something, in substance, like this: "Neither the full faith and credit clause (Article IV, Section 1) of this Constitution nor any law or treaty of the United States of America shall be construed to require any state to recognize, in any way, the marriage, civil union or comparable union created by another jurisdiction or government, whether foreign or domestic, when such marriage, civil union or comparable union could not be created or entered into in the state where recognition is sought.""

Reference used:

The following information source was used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlink is not necessarily still active today.

1. Reader poll on Federal Marriage Amendment, OneNewsNow, 2008-AUG, at: http://www.onenewsnow.com

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Originally posted: 2008-AUG-03
Latest update: 2009-MAY-29

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