OPINION:
The homosexual rights movement is on the verge of destroying marriage. If successful, it will permanently alter society. And President Obama is playing a pivotal role in this attack on traditional America.
Mr. Obama ordered the Justice Department on Wednesday not to defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the face of lawsuits, the federal government is abdicating its role to uphold laws enacted by Congress - at least those the administration does not agree with.
This is not only a severe violation of its constitutional responsibilities but a blatant surrender to the homosexual lobby. DOMA was passed in 1996 by Congress and signed by then-President Bill Clinton. The law defines marriage for federal purposes as a legal union between a man and a woman. Moreover, DOMA stipulates that states have the power to not recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other states. Hence, the purpose of DOMA is to act as a firewall against the most revolutionary social-engineering experiment of our time: redefining marriage.
Although he claims still to be “grappling” with the issue of same-sex marriage, the president is a radical social liberal. He supports “strong” civil unions for homosexuals. He claims that restrictions on homosexuals getting married are “discriminatory” and “homophobic.” He endorses abortion on demand - including the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion. He defends embryonic stem-cell research. He has nothing but kind things to say about euthanasia. In short, he champions the culture of death.
Mr. Obama’s stated goal is to transform America. The most destructive aspect is this revolution against traditional morality. He is trying to make homosexuality a permanent, legitimate feature of American life. His administration already has successfully backed the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, thereby enabling homosexuals to serve openly in the armed forces. The result will be to undermine unit cohesion and morale, crippling the finest fighting force in the world. The military has fallen to the homosexual movement. By abandoning DOMA, Mr. Obama is paving the way for the final assault on the last bastion of conservatism - the family.
It is only a matter of time before Mr. Obama comes out of the closet for homosexual marriage - probably just before the 2012 election to galvanize the homosexual constituency, which has become a powerful force within the Democratic Party. Yet his attack on DOMA is not only for political purposes. It is also ideological.
From its inception, the modern left has sought to destroy the traditional family. Marriage has been the bedrock institution of the Christian West; smash it, and the entire civilizational edifice comes crashing down. This is why one of the first things the Bolsheviks did upon seizing power in Russia was to promote free love, abortion and open marriage. Promiscuity and sexual permissiveness were central to their war on religion, capitalism and the family.
It is also why 1960s campus radicals - hippies, the new left and feminists - promoted the sexual revolution. They rightly understood that personal liberation, hedonism and moral relativism dissolve the very pillars of Middle America: self-control, personal responsibility, patriotism and God. The pleasure principle (if it feels good, do it) is at the heart of New Age liberalism.
The homosexual lifestyle signifies the triumph of neo-pagan Epicureanism. By its very nature, homosexuality cannot fulfill the primary function of sex: procreation and the reproduction of the human race. It is inherently a socially barren act. A homosexual society is a childless one - doomed to extinction.
This is why all the great religions - Christianity, Judaism, Islam - historically teach that sodomy is unnatural and immoral. It is a violation of the natural moral order. Thomas Jefferson, for example, said homosexuality should be treated with the same severity as rape.
The push to sanction homosexual marriage legally is a leftist attempt to impose the pernicious doctrine that all forms of sexual behavior are morally equal. They are not. The homosexual rights lobby is trying to mainstream perversion and vice - to put homosexuality on an equal plane with heterosexuality. It is time conservatives, traditionalists and people of all religious faiths stand up to defend society’s most basic institution.
Contrary to the claims of liberals, marriage is not a “civil right” - something to be dispensed at the behest of anyone who wishes it. If this were true, it would unleash the floodgates. Polygamy, “transgender” unions, bestiality, pedophilia - all forms of deviant sexual behavior could claim discrimination. It is a recipe for moral anarchy and social disintegration. For centuries, public acceptance of homosexuality has been identified with decadence, decline and the fall of civilizations.
Throughout history, especially in the West, traditional marriage has had a distinct status. It is a sacred union between a man and a woman. Its primary - although not sole - role is to create and socialize children. It is the most effective means by which societies not only reproduce, but transmit the mores of one generation to the next. It is the linchpin of any stable, successful culture. To weaken - or worse, transform - it inevitably leads to societal collapse. Babylon, ancient Greece and Rome all withered away because of internal moral rot.
Post-Christian progressives, such as Mr. Obama, are not championing anything new. Instead, they are slowly reverting to a failed, pagan past. Theirs is not a brave new world; it is a corrupt old one.
Jeffrey T. Kuhner is a columnist at The Washington Times and president of the Edmund Burke Institute.
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