The AFA admits they want to take America back to the 1800s
The most recent issue of the AFA Journal (a monthly publication of the American Family Association) includes an article relating to polygamy, apparently written in response to TLC’s sister wives show. In addition to condemning polygamy, the article makes yet another case for the re-establishment of traditional marriage values.
How traditional?
The article makes that pretty clear:
That we used to order our society based - either directly or indirectly - on God’s laws is made abundantly clear by older Supreme Court rulings. In the last quarter of the 19th century three cases came before the high court challenging laws against polygamy. In all three we clearly see the imprint of Christian thinking in the rulings. In Reynolds v. U.S. (1878), the Supreme Court called marriage a “A sacred obligation”, thus keying in on the religious nature of marriage as an institution, while also noting the civil aspects.
The court also addressed the nature and definition of marriage in Murphy v Ramsey (1885), stating that the individual states of our Union are established “on the basis of the idea of the family as consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of Matrimony.”
Finally, in Davis v. Beason (1890), the court stated: “And on this point there can be no serious discussion of difference of opinion. Bigamy and polygamy are crimes by the laws of all civilized and Christian countries” and the court also noted “the general consent of the Christian world in modern times” as sufficient grounds for keeping polygamy illegal.
However this worldview is quickly unraveling. In an interview with National Review following the legalization of homosexual marriage by the New York legislature this past summer, Dr. Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton university said we are losing “the norms of monogamy, exclusivity and the pledge of permanence” that have helped define marriage in our law and culture.
“Many people’s understanding of, and authentic commitment to, these traditional norms has already eroded substantially since the 1960s under the pressure of sexual revolution ideology. They will now erode further” George said.
The article also ends on an interesting note:
Polygamy is not God’s best for individuals or societies. In America, however, it’s becoming harder and harder to convince people to care about what God thinks.
Nevertheless we should continue trying.
After the state of New York legalized same sex marriage, Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York for the Roman Catholic Church, blogged concerning the battle fought by those on the side of traditional marriage.
“The Church is counter cultural, like Jesus, often at odds with what passes as chic, enlightened and progressive,” the Archbishop wrote, adding “we have been bloodied and bruised and, yes, for the moment, we have been defeated. But, we’re used to that, so is the Founder of our Church.”
To surrender in a fight, or to shrink away from the fight to begin with, is “a dereliction of duty”, according to Dolan.
It may seem like a hopeless fight, but the very fate of traditional marriage perhaps marriage perhaps hanging in the balance, it is certainly worth a few bloody noses.
Near as I can tell, the intended takeaways from the article are:
- America is going down the tubes because of Gays and has been since the 1960s
- As far as some Christians are concerned, the 1800s rocked!
- Any marriage besides one man/one woman is inherently evil and will destroy the world as we know it.
- Apparently, people who support gay marriage are no better than the people who whipped, lashed and hung Jesus on the Cross.
Now of course I could continue on and refute/challenge each of these points and assertions but I’m not even going to bother as it’s already been done too many times.
There’s a story of a similar nature to this one on the AFA Journal website right now (not going to link it, but you can find it quickly with Google) that allows for facebook comments.
Here’s a couple of them:
for me homosexuality arises because someone is not thankful of how God has created him/her. if only everyone was able to be happy, content and thankful with how God created hjm/her it will never arise since the time of ham in the old testament :)
I am extremely conservative and a christian mother. First God’s Word is clear on the sin of homosexuality. Is the sin of homosexuality different in Gods eyes than other sin? No! But, wiith homosexuality you have a people that want the world to view it as acceptable and right. I have worked as a flight attendant with many gays. Though I could befriend them I never condoned their lifestyle. Homosexuality destroys the American Family and creates a variety of problems. To think that two people can carry on a homosexual lifestyle and it not affect others in nonsense. It affects children, the family, the church, schools a few among a many others.