Last November a group organizing an “Old Fashioned Christmas” cancelled a Christmas Tea at a local church because the pastor requested the traditional Christmas story be read alongside “The Night Before Christmas.” A member of the committee declared, “We were afraid of offending someone.” That decision sparked outrage throughout the state and even the nation among those who cherish old-fashioned values.
It’s happening again. In passing HB 437, the New Hampshire legislature has taken the first steps toward redefining traditional marriage, creating “spousal unions” that would include same-sex partnerships. A companion bill, HB 791, strikes words from the existing definition of marriage that prohibit a man from marrying a man and a woman from marrying a woman. Let the outrage begin.
Supporters of the bills push a message of equality. “Please do the right thing, what you know is your heart is right,” urged Rep. Bette Lasky, a co-sponsor of HB 437, “Help our daughters, friends, sons and neighbors live their lives the way I believe we all want to live with the people we love – in peace and dignity.” This high sounding rhetoric, however, glosses over the truth: that the decision to redefine marriage, however well intentioned by some, is the cultural equivalent of a nuclear strike on the foundations of society.
Consider a little history. In June of 1969, gay activists formed the Gay Liberation Front. Their magazine, Come Out! symbolized a political agenda that is clearly stated in their statement of purpose: “We are a revolutionary group of men and women formed with the realization that complete sexual liberation for all people cannot come about unless existing social institutions are abolished. We reject society’s attempt to impose sexual roles and definitions of our nature.”
Today’s gay activists are inheritors of this movement, and while their ideas may be more mainstream and less strident, let’s be clear. The real problem is not, as some would say, Homophobia, but rather “Offendaphobia,” the fear of offending anyone. Nothing else can explain the behavior of elected officials who cower before the well-financed, well-organized gay lobby while ignoring the quiet majority of us who fear for our families and our society if the institution of marriage is threatened.
It is time for that majority to come out and to declare a War on Error – to say without apology that some things are just right and true, and chief among these is marriage between a man and a woman. I am convinced that this conviction is shared by the great majority of men and women, young and old, rich and poor alike and can be the basis for a new constituency that will speak with one voice to those who say they represent us.
As state senators consider following their counterparts in the House, let us urge them to make the right decision and preserve the institution of marriage. This is a war we must win.
(Concord Monitor, April 23, 2007)
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