The Unseen Pain Behind Same-Sex Marriage

Homosexuality, Marriage, ,

Last week we shared a commentary by John Stonestreet at the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview articulating why Christianity is wedded to traditional marriage. This week, Stonestreet has released a commentary on the painful consequences of same-sex marriage.

Stonestreet writes,

Seven years ago, [Janna] Darnelle’s husband of ten years told her that he was gay and that he wanted a divorce. As she wrote in The Public Discourse, “In an instant, the world that I had known and loved—the life we had built together—was shattered.”

She tried to persuade him to stay, and work through their problems and fight for their marriage. But, as she writes, “my voice, my desires, my needs—and those of our two young children—no longer mattered to him. We had become disposable, because he had embraced one tiny word that had become his entire identity. Being gay trumped commitment, vows, responsibility, faith, fatherhood, marriage, friendships, and community.” …

USA Today, in its cheerleading for same-sex marriage, ran a photo section on her ex-husband, his partner, and her children without her consent or even notice to her. Darnelle wrote, “Commenters exclaimed at how beautiful this gay family was and congratulated my ex-husband and his new partner on the family that they ‘created’ . . .,” even though, she continued, “there is a significant person missing from those pictures: the mother and abandoned wife. That ‘gay family’ could not exist without me.”

Darnelle’s story, sadly, is not unique. Stonestreet discusses the series of cultural shifts that have brought us to this point–and the pain they have left in their wake.

Listen to his full commentary below.

[audio:http://bit.ly/1qVttEY|titles=John Stonestreet – The Unseen Pain Behind Gay Marriage]

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Why We’re Wedded to Traditional Marriage

Marriage,

John Stonestreet with the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview has a new radio spot out explaining why Christians are “wedded” to traditional marriage.

In his one-minute recording, Stonestreet says,

“Waiting for Christians to back down on gay marriage? Don’t hold your breath…the [Christian] faith has been surprisingly consistent on sexuality. Christian opposition to homosexual acts is of a piece with a much broader vision of what it means to be a human being, and Christians will never completely part with that view.

“Marriage…is at the heart of the Christian story. Scripture begins with a wedding, the Church is called a bride, our God a groom, and history is consummated with a cosmic reception dinner. So backing down on marriage for Christians means backing down on the whole story, and that’s unlikely.”

You can listen to Stonestreet’s full commentary below.

[audio:http://bit.ly/1wLD5HS|titles=John Stonestreet – Why We’re Wedded to Traditional Marriage]

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Polygamists Win in Court Using Trail Blazed by Same-Sex Marriage

Marriage, ,

Last December U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups issued a ruling effectively decriminalizing polygamy in Utah.

Under Utah law, a person may not file for more than one marriage license or cohabit with more than one “spouse.” The law is intended to prevent both state-recognized polygamy and the unofficial polygamy practiced by some people in which a man is legally married to one woman, but has other “wives” to which he is not legally married.

Kody Brown and his wives, stars of the reality TV show “Sister Wives” depicting their polygamous lifestyle, filed suit against the State of Utah over the law, and last December Judge Clark Waddoups struck the portion of the law preventing people from living together in polygamous relationships; Judge Waddoups did, however, leave the portion of the law preventing a person from filing for more than one marriage license. Since most polygamous groups do not typically file for multiple state marriage licenses anyway, this effectively decriminalizes polygamy in the State of Utah.

A stay was placed on Judge Waddoups’ initial ruling last year, pending a decision on whether or not Utah owed the Browns any financial compensation. This week, Judge Waddoups ruled the State of Utah must pay the Browns’ attorney fees, and put the full force of his December ruling into effect.

This ruling is significant, because the logic employed by Judge Waddoups decriminalizing polygamy is the very same logic being used to advance same-sex marriage around the country. Gay activists have long dismissed claims that same-sex marriage would lead to polygamy as “fear mongering.” However, Judge Waddoups’ ruling owes a lot to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Lawrence v. Texas ruling which has been used over and over again in court to argue against everything from the federal Defense of Marriage Act to state marriage amendments.

Judge Waddoups’ ruling largely hinges on the following: (more…)

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