What women want The Marriage Debate

Jun 12, 2006

Earlier this week, the United States Senate rejected a proposed amendment to the US Constitution that would ban gay “marriage.” Although the 49-48 vote favored passing the amendment, it did not receive the necessary 60 votes to move the amendment forward. This Congressional defeat is due in large part to the misconception that the “marriage” ban is bigoted and discriminatory against homosexuals.

As evidenced on Capitol Hill, this “marriage debate” is divisive and sure to dominate the 2006 state elections. In response, Catholics need to understand the reasons why the Catholic Church is standing in defense of traditional marriage.

First of all, the Church understands that marriage is a sacrament, and as a sacrament, it has God as its author. Marriage is not purely a human institution, but is a vocation that “is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator” (CCC #1603). The Church also explains that marriage, as revealed in Scripture, is twofold in its purpose: it is both unitive for the good of the spouses and procreative in the spouses’ openness to life. We must reiterate that both of these qualities must be recognized and embraced in marriage, not one to the neglect of the other.

With this foundational understanding of marriage, the Church further explains that “by its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory” (CCC1652). This is the fruit of marriage: children and family life! Obviously, homosexual relationships are not able to share in this procreative act with God and therefore defy the nature of marriage itself.

The Church sees the family as “the original cell of social life” and teaches that “the family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom” (CCC #2207). The stability, attention, discipline, and love that children receive growing up lays a solid foundation for each child’s success and active participation in society. This foundation is imperative since a child’s familial experiences act as an initiation into societal life.

Recognizing the importance of this stable family foundation, the push to re-define marriage and the family as simply mutual interdependence upon another person is worrisome. For sound reason, the Church teaches that “a man and a woman united in marriage, together with their children, form a family” (CCC #2202). The Church considers this nuclear definition of married husband and wife who are open to life as the normal reference point by which all other family relationships are to be evaluated.

This is not to question the love or goodwill in homosexual relationships. Clearly,
homosexuals have a desire for commitment, which stems from our most basic need to love and be loved. However, compromising the institution of marriage and the nuclear family structure to accommodate non-traditional lifestyles will have its consequences. Healthy marriages and stable families create thriving children and strong communities. When marriage and family life breaks down, everyone suffers. As Catholics, we work to promote the common good. Therefore, it is our duty to acknowledge, protect, and defend the true nature of marriage and family.

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