iage follows logically from the premises: the law should not endorse homosexual marriage. The same argument applies to the compromise position of “civil unions,” because this would still mean government endorsement of a destructive behavior. Playing word games will not eliminate the negative effects of such endorsement.

PROTECT OUR NATIONAL IMMUNE SYSTEM

How should we respond to the call for homosexual marriage? If we allow our emotional affection for our gay friends and relatives to interfere with sound reasoning, we risk making the same mistake that my friend’s parents made — endorsing behavior that will hurt our loved ones. Such a mistake, however, will not hurt just one person just once; it will hurt entire future generations repeatedly. Legalizing homosexual marriage will teach future generations the false ideas that:

• Homosexual behavior is just as moral and healthy as heterosexual behavior.

• Homosexual marriage is just as moral and beneficial as traditional marriage.

• Mothers and fathers offer nothing uniquely beneficial to the care and development of children (homosexual couples always deny children either their mother or father).

• Marriage is no longer about procreation, just coupling; therefore, if someone wants to have children, there is really no reason for that person to get married.

These are false and dangerous ideas. Those who accept them stand to hurt themselves and others.

We must face the facts of nature: homosexual relationships cannot produce the benefits of heterosexual unions; therefore, our laws should not be changed to pretend otherwise. Laws can neither change the facts of nature and magically transfer the procreative abilities of heterosexual relationships and the benefits of traditional marriage to homosexuals, nor can they erase the serious health problems that result from homosexual behavior. A new law legalizing homosexual marriage would only serve to deceive people into thinking that homosexual marriage and traditional marriage are equally beneficial. Such legally endorsed deception would be a dangerous teacher to new generations.

Only traditional marriage can secure a healthy future for our children and our entire civilization; therefore, it alone deserves privileged legal support. We must not make the mistake my friend’s parents made and risk endorsing behavior that will ultimately hurt those we claim to love. Love requires that we stand firm. The most loving policy for our country is to legally protect traditional marriage — our national immune system — by ensuring that it remains solely the union of one man and one woman.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTES:

James Dobson, Marriage Under Fire (Sisters, OR: Mult