Hooray for Sen. Pete Fitzgerald, R-Palantine, for his courage and integrity in seeking to preserve and protect the definition of what qualifies as a legitimate legal marriage in our state! My perspective differs from the one expressed in the Daily Egyptian editorial on Friday, March 8. The fact that our present state law defines marriage as being between a man and a woman clearly conveys the idea that same-sex marriages are prohibited from legal recognition.

The problem arises in that special interest groups are attempting to redefine the family unit. Based on the trends of political correctness, moral relativism (that morals are defined solely by each individual), and/or tolerance for pluralism, repeated appeals are made for broadening our concept of what constitutes a family. Due to the rise in out-of-wedlock births, co-habitating couples outside of marriage, divorce and single-adult lifestyles, some accommodations in society’s view of the family have occurred. But out-of-wedlock births, co-habitation, divorce and homosexual relationships do not comprise the ideal social structure upon which a society can be built or stand.

The nuclear family, consisting of a husband and wife and their children in a single household, is still the ideal, basic social unit for any civilization to be strong and secure. Despite the obvious breakdown of the traditional family in our culture, children develop best in a loving home environment where both of their natural parents nurture them to maturity. Since marriage naturally leads to parenthood, it should only be natural for a society to embrace traditional marriage and family as its primary institution.

Advertisement

Alternate lifestyles have existed in most cultures of the world, but a society which legitimizes and embraces homosexuality, as ours is doing, is walking on thin ice. Every great civilization which has ever accepted this lifestyle did so during a time of debauchery and social decline contributing to its downfall. God’s original plan for marriage and family serves society best.