Part One:
http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/kra/kra_27marriagepartone.html
(Part Two)
We are witnessing an intense period of attack upon traditional marriage from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender [GLBT] groups throughout America. The 2000 census showed 600,000 same-sex couples in the nation, while the 1990 version found 150,000.1 Two years later, a 2002 U.S. government study by the National Center for Health Statistics asked 12,571 in age group 18-44 "Do you think of yourself as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or something else?" In answer, 2.3% men and women said they were homosexual, 1.8% answered bisexual, translating to possibly 4.5 million self-identified homosexual or bisexual persons.2
Encouraging news comes from a July 2005 Rasmussen Reports poll showing not only American pro-life voters overwhelmingly support traditional marriage but 48% of pro-abortion voters support it as well. Among all 1,000 likely American voters polled, 66% favor traditional marriage over same-sex marriage.
An interesting three-year Gallup Poll4 conducted during the month of May for years 2002-2004 showed that Catholic Church leaders are failing to teach their flock about same-sex marriage. The Poll showed Catholics' acceptance of 'homosexual behavior' at 48%, higher than non-Catholics acceptance at 39%. Other Gallup data in the same poll suggests Catholics are no different than other non-Catholics on key moral issues.3 This would indicate that little if any Catholic moral teachings were coming from Catholic parish pulpits or Catholic bishops' diocesan newspapers.
Not all Christian denominations support traditional marriage. On July 4, 2005, four-fifths of delegates to the United Church of Christ's national conference voted to recognize same-sex marriage, the first major Christian denomination to do so.
Moreover, our good neighbor to the North, Canada, on July 20, 2005, announced their parliament's legalization of same-sex marriage.
In another interesting Gallup Poll, Americans are turning more negative toward the concept of same-sex marriage. The poll taken during March 18-20, 2005 shows 57% of Americans polled support a federal constitutional amendment ban against same-sex marriage. In addition, 68% of Americans polled said same-sex marriage should not be legalized. A year earlier, in February 2004, the poll showed support for a federal constitutional amendment was only 47%.
Extremist groups in Washington, namely politicians and activist judges practicing or promoting sodomy, continue to strip away America's traces of its Judeo-Christian heritage.
One example can be recalled from July 14, 2004, when 50 Senators [37 Dem., 6 Rep.] led by Sen. Ted Kennedy [D-MA] rejected the Federal Marriage Amendment [FMA], an attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage.5
The 48 votes in support of the amendment were 19 votes short of the 67-vote [two-thirds] majority needed in the senate.6 Despite the U.S. Constitutional amendment's failure in the Senate, the House of Representatives presented the legislation again on September 30, 2004. It received 227 yea votes and 186 nay votes, well short of the 290 yea votes needed for adoption. A U.S. Constitutional amendment requires the approval of two-thirds of the House and Senate and three-fourths of the states.
For decades, many Americans have bemoaned the virulent judicial activism by justices supplanting the rule of law and the will of the people. Activist justices often spuriously characterize pro-family groups making any defense of the clear national moral consensus as evoking "hate speech."
Many ask, 'What can one person do?' One successful antidote to this judicial oligarchy is to partake in the privilege Americans have to vote.
Americans can pick their lawmakers and pick their laws by voting in all elections. All elections are crucial. We cannot afford to lose any election to the culture of death undermining the good of the family and society. Each election, no matter how insignificant, demands the attention of all its citizens.
Federal court activist judges and anti-family legislators have left the American people with one recourse: until our nation can call for the passage of Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, citizens of every state must now work to enact state constitutional amendments to protect sacredness of marriage in America, the most fundamental institution of civilization.7
[See Part One, Part Three, Part Four]
1 Cf. study entitled: "Seventy percent of older teens have had oral sex-Study finds big rise in female gay sex," by Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times, 9/16/05. [Back]
2 Study by National Center for Health Statistics, "Sexual Behavior and Selected Health Measures: Men and Women 15-44 Years of Age, United States, 2002." [Back]
3 Gallup Poll showed Catholics accept abortion, death penalty, euthanasia, divorce, and embryonic stem cell research at the same percentile as non-Catholics. [Back]
4 Poll conducted March 18-20, 2004 is the highest measured response of 57% in favor of marriage being 'between a man and a woman,' across the seven other times the question has been asked since the summer of 2003. Support for a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage among Republican voters in March 2004 was 71%, while support by Democrat voters was 45%. Independent voters supported the amendment at 51%. Highest support for an amendment to ban came from Southern states at 65%, with Midwest states at 56%. Men supported a ban at 59% while women polls supported the ban at 55%. Men and women in the 30-49 year range gave the highest support to ban same-sex marriage, at 61%. Weekly churchgoers gave the ban 67% support, while those who seldom go to church gave the ban only 46% support. [Back]
5 The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), sponsored by Sen. Wayne Allard (CO-Rep), consisted of only two sentences: "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman." The U.S. Senate did not pass the Amendment on July 2004. [Back]
6 WASHINGTON, July 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) Ð Following is the detailed Senator by Senator vote that killed the federal marriage amendment. List is provided courtesy of the Culture of Life Foundation:
Vote Counts: YEAs ---48
Alexander (R-TN), Allard (R-CO), Allen (R-VA), Bennett (R-UT), Bond (R-MO), Brownback (R-KS), Bunning (R-KY), Burns (R-MT), Byrd (D-WV), Chambliss (R-GA), Cochran (R-MS), Coleman (R-MN), Cornyn (R-TX), Craig (R-ID), Crapo (R-ID), DeWine (R-OH), Dole (R-NC), Domenici (R-NM), Ensign (R-NV), Enzi (R-WY), Fitzgerald (R-IL), Frist (R-TN), Graham (R-SC), Grassley (R-IA), Gregg (R-NH), Hagel (R-NE), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX), Inhofe (R-OK), Kyl (R-AZ), Lott (R-MS), Lugar (R-IN), McConnell (R-KY), Miller (D-GA), Murkowski (R-AK), Nelson (D-NE), Nickles (R-OK), Roberts (R-KS), Santorum (R-PA), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Smith (R-OR), Specter (R-PA), Stevens (R-AK), Talent (R-MO), Thomas (R-WY), Voinovich (R-OH), Warner (R-VA).
NAYs --- 50
Akaka (D-HI), Baucus (D-MT), Bayh (D-IN), Biden (D-DE), Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Breaux (D-LA), Campbell (R-CO), Cantwell (D-WA), Carper (D-DE), Chafee (R-RI), Clinton (D-NY), Collins (R-ME), Conrad (D-ND), Corzine (D-NJ), Daschle (D-SD), Dayton (D-MN), Dodd (D-CT), Dorgan (D-ND), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Feinstein (D-CA), Graham (D-FL), Harkin (D-IA), Hollings (D-SC), Inouye (D-HI), Jeffords (I-VT), Johnson (D-SD), Kennedy (D-MA), Kohl (D-WI), Landrieu (D-LA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (D-CT), Lincoln (D-AR), McCain (R-AZ), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Nelson (D-FL), Pryor (D-AR), Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV), Rockefeller (D-WV), Sarbanes (D-MD), Schumer (D-NY), Snowe (R-ME), Stabenow (D-MI), Sununu (R-NH), Wyden (D-OR)
Not Voting - 2
Edwards (D-NC), Kerry (D-MA) [Back]
7 You can find a great deal of information on same-sex marriage on these websites:MarriageWatch.org from The Catholic University of America/Columbus School of Law; The nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures offers background information; The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights advocacy group, has a Marriage Center webpage; DomaWatch.org, a project of Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian organization based in Scottsdale, Ariz., tracks same-sex marriage litigation and legislation. The Washington D.C. - based Family Research Council, a conservative lobbying group opposed to same-sex marriage, has a Marriage and Family webpage; and Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, offers background and state-by-state timelines. [Back]