On September 10, leaders of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) went on record offering their “general support” for a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The amendment is being pushed by those who want to defeat attempts to codify homosexual marriage in some states.
The Catholic League wasted no time commending the bishops. Here is the text of our remarks:
“The administrative committee of the USCCB was right to speak to the inherent dignity that homosexuals share with heterosexuals. But they were also right to insist that nothing should disturb the traditional understanding of marriage. Quite frankly, to grant the right of men to marry each other is to devalue the institution of marriage.
“If marriage is not to become an alternative lifestyle, then we must maintain its privileged position in law. Society has no interest in affirming the sexual desires of individuals, but it does have an interest in providing children with a stable and patterned relationship. For society not to take its cues from nature on this subject is to render it sociologically clueless: there is a reason why nature denies children to those who have sex with members of the same sex. Lawmakers who seek to deny nature and nature’s god run the risk of alienating our social institutions from our being. Such a disjunction is morally intolerable.
“Those who say that a constitutional amendment on this issue would violate federalist principles are not living in the 21st century. It is pretty late in the game to assert states’ rights when those committed to gay marriage will stop at nothing to get their way. Add to this the phenomenon of highly politicized judges who regard judicial restraint as an anathema and the stage is set. Here’s what we’re faced with: either we amend the constitution to protect society’s most fundamental unit or we suffer the consequences of establishing a smorgasbord of sexual liaisons.
“We look to the leaders of other religions to speak as courageously as the U.S. bishops have. We’d also like to hear from presidential contenders.”
