Traditional Marriage: Addendum

Perhaps one of the most biting criticisms wielded by the pro-gay "marriage" folks toward the traditional marriage institution (or as I like to call it, "reality") is the damage that "straights" have done to traditional marriage.  Serial divorce, contraception, IVF, etc have warped society's view of marriage.  Thus it is hypocritical of advocates of traditional marriage to exclude gays when the rest of the definition has been violated.

I wholehearted agree with this criticism.  I feel that the advocates of marriage have already compromised the core of marriage by accepting things like contraception and no-fault divorce.  The surrender of these aspects of marriage make the exclusion of gay partnerships look like an arbitrary ban.  Had our society been living marriage as it had been intended gay "marriage" would look a lot more ridiculous.  


This is yet another reason why the fight for marriage is considered "the bad war."  Whatever the intellectual reasons for the traditional view of marriage (and they are sound) are compromised by the day to day life of your average American Christian.  Our lives have undermined the actual meaning of marriage, and as a result we have lost the fortitude to make the argument.


In order to reestablish the legal foundation of marriage we need to live out the truth of marriage in our daily lives.  We need to reclaim the permanence of the union and the life giving potential that makes marriage the foundation unit of a society.  How can we expect the proponents of gay "marriage" to believe our view of marriage if we do not live it out ourselves?  


This does not mean however that the gay advocates have the upper hand in this.  The fact that marriage is damaged in our society does not justify making things worse.  As C. S. Lewis states:

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

 But for Christians we have to take a hard long look at our own lives.  The sanctity of marriage is something that cannot be taken for granted.  And the gay "marriage" debate is but one of the many ills that plagues our society as a result of our infidelity toward nature and the fundamental concepts of the human person.  We cannot blame the gay "marriage" advocates for taking our errors to their logical conclusion.