On the Culture War; Pertaining to Marriage
Elder R. Keith Hamilton
A war on the values and identity of our Christo-American culture is blazing all across the
landscape of our great nation. This
struggle threatens to undermine and destroy the values, institutions, and
principles that not only have made
I have a heavy heart with this subject, for it is my
growing perception, and great fear, that an increasingly large number of godly,
Christian people underestimate the consequences and importance of struggles
such as this and either refuse to engage the debate and speak forth the truth
of God as opportunities arise, or worse, turn away in indifference and apathy
choosing not to be involved and taking a momentarily, less bothersome
path. I am alarmed that churched people
are accepting and excusatory of the reduced standards and expectations of our
society and communities and give the appearance of embracing the very behaviors
and decisions that seek to undo the ideology and attitudes to which we so
vigorously strive as the disciples of the Resurrected Christ.
One such matter is the popular conflict currently
surrounding marriage. Dramatic changes
are demanded by the humanists and cultural left, as they may be identified, to
change society’s perception and definition of marriage and to broaden
marriage’s benefits and privileges to an ever widening array of social
arrangements. In the name of tolerance
and compassion, open-mindedness and modernism the call goes forth for our
culture to change and to embrace unnatural affections and unseemly alliances
with the same esteem and dignity as the God-charged union of man and woman in
natural arrangement and utility (See Romans 1:24-32 and Genesis 2:21-25).
These unnatural and unseemly arrangements, men with
men and women with women, are unproductive and contrary to the designs of
nature and nature’s God, yet there is a persistent demand to claim that there
is really no difference. A lie is
perpetuated that marriage is nothing more than a codified expression of
affection and admiration between two consenting individuals, and that such
affection is always valid and of equal value regardless of whether the two
individuals are of the same sex or not.
One question that comes to mind and should be pondered
among us, Christo-culturists is why should these
cultural pirates now seek to embrace marriage as a valid utility when they have
ridiculed, belittled and mocked it for so very long? The answer is simply that they have found it
useful to achieve their own interests, and in doing so will finally succeed in
destroying the institution itself.
Without critical thinking, it might appear to some
that there is a renewed, invigorated interest in marriage and its devout model
of commitment and sacrifice; but closer examination to arguments of the
cultural left reveal the same old contempt and derision for the Godly standard
and a renewed desire to steal away the institution’s respect and distinction
for something else entirely. Distasteful
and deviant elements of society want legitimacy for their errant behaviors and
seek to validate themselves by identifying with a known, legitimate cultural
standard such as marriage and demand that all others in society recognize them
in that same way. Culturally speaking,
this amounts to a classic bait and switch routine.
The cultural war over marriage is easily boiled down
to an effort to take that which is honorable and good and apply it to that
which is dishonorable and shameful. By
doing this, the advocates can make believe, and strive to make the rest of us
believe, that the dishonorable has become honorable. There are two outcomes of this effort that
are advantageous to the cultural left; either the honorable tag will cause
society to accept the deviant behaviors as honorable, principled and
respectful, or the integrity, merit and uprightness of marriage will be fully
undermined and the institution will finally be destroyed, portrayed as
something less than honorable itself, as if it were always a ruse. Either outcome is perfectly acceptable to
those who assail against the Christian standards of living.
The cultural objective of this war is to modify law
and society in such a way as to make detestable and destructive arrangements of
convenience and deviance not less than that which is recognized and known as
the ideological standard, marriage. They
don’t necessarily have to be superior, but they have to be looked upon “as good
as”. It matters not to the liberal,
humanistic mind by which course this is ultimately achieved and applied in
general to our culture. This conflict
also furthers the age-old agenda to demonize the harmony and God-granted
purpose of union between man and woman and to portray abnormal relationships
and associations as healthy and beneficial to the individual as well as
society.
These changes are being forced upon our Christo-American culture, and the way this is being done is
deceitful and fraudulent. The most
effective method thus far has been to equate the love and commitment of a
husband and wife to the exchange of affections between “partners” and then to
decry discrimination when these partners do not receive the same benefits,
privileges and respect as a married man and woman. This strategy has worked very well to secure
insurance benefits, health-care coverage, “family” leave privileges, favorable
zoning and tax ordinances, and other special interest benefits for same-sex
pairs that were previously reserved for married heterosexual couples.
Usually, the argument is made that employer and
government benefits have traditionally been extended to the heterosexual
spouses of employees or beneficiaries, and to not extend these same traditional
benefits to the “partners” of employees or beneficiaries is discrimination
based upon lifestyle choice. Several
states have already ruled this practice unconstitutional, and a few have
enacted laws that require employers and insurers to provide any benefits or
privileges extended to married spouses of employees to homosexual or
“lifestyle” partners of employees on an equal basis. This practice is even more widespread,
becoming common-place, among large companies and corporations. As this continues, private industry and the
courts will set precedents that erode the legal and cultural sanctity of
marriage.
Even in our society today of October, 2003, we still
continue to recognize marriage in the same context and structure as ordained of
God himself, but this identity is quickly being lost. If left unchecked and un-resisted, the
assault against marriage, family, and the visible Church will prosper and grow,
robbing us of our honorable culture and stewardship. It is necessary and purposeful for us as
Christians, believers in God’s design and purpose, to hold steadfast to the
standard of God’s design and willfully rebuff those who would destroy one of
God’s special gifts to men. I urge you
to hold fast the principles of Scripture and our Creator’s decree.
Elder R. Keith Hamilton
Brooklet,