As
homosexual couples were “marrying” in San Francisco,
President George W. Bush announced in late February that,
after months of consideration, he is in support of the
Federal Marriage Amendment.
Stating that the future of marriage must not be left in
the hands of a few unelected, activist judges, Bush said
that “to prevent the meaning of marriage from being changed
forever, our nation must enact a constitutional amendment to
protect marriage in America.”
That announcement was greeted with elation by
pro-family leaders. A full-page ad thanking Bush and urging
calls to Congress on behalf of the Federal Mar-riage
Amendment was placed in 28 newspapers five days after the
President’s announcement. Coral Ridge Ministries, Focus on
the Family, Family Research Council, the Christian
Coalition, and the Southern Baptist Convention were among
nearly 80 groups listed on the ad.
“Deeply
Grateful”
“I am deeply grateful for the President’s long-awaited and
unequivocal endorsement of a Federal Marriage Amendment,”
Dr. Kennedy said. “His support will go far to ensure that
Congress acts this session to pass and send to the states an
amendment that will remove this matter from activist judges
and renegade public officials. The wildfire of lawlessness
that has erupted in San Francisco and New Mexico must be
contained. The passage of a Federal Marriage Amendment will
ensure that no judge or elected official will take it upon
himself to redefine marriage for the rest of America.”
Advocates for homosexual marriage quickly charged that
the attempt to protect marriage by amending the Constitution
is, as Sen. Edward Kennedy put it, a “shameful effort to
write discrimination back into the Constitution.” The New
York Times called it “putting bias in the Constitution.”
Dr. Kennedy took sharp issue with those charges. “The
defense of marriage is not ‘discrimination,’” he said.
“Marriage has for millennia meant the union of a man and a
woman. To label the defense of that age-old standard
‘discrimination’ is to indict the |
Common cause:
Nearly 80 groups were listed on an ad that thanked President
Bush for endorsing the Federal Marriage Amendment. The $2
million ad ran February in 28 newspapers reaching 19 million
readers.
grand
sweep of human history and every civilized nation that has
ever existed.”
“Attempts to raise the red herring of ‘bias,’” Dr.
Kennedy said, “only debase public debate and distort the
central question, which is, whether marriage is a malleable
social construct—silly putty in the hands of judges to be
reshaped as they deem fit—or whether marriage is what it has
been since creation, the union of one man and one woman for
life.”
Public
Support
Americans, by a 61-33 percent margin, oppose homosexual
marriage, according to a March USA Today/CNN/Gallup
Poll. That poll found 50 percent support a federal marriage
amendment and 45 percent oppose it.
Coral Ridge Ministries’ friends made their opinion
known on the issue, signing more than 38,000 petitions
urging Congress to protect marriage by passing a Federal
Marriage Amendment.
Please see Marriage Fight Heats Up,
page 4 |
