What has happened to our culture, civilization, ourselves, that we seem hell-bent on self-destruction, embracing every notion that is designed to diminish or destroy authentic life? While we destroy that which is life-giving in any natural form, we seem ready to embrace any artificial means for its perpetuation. And while we reject the natural order of marriage, marital life and parenting, we seem anxious to embrace same-sex unions. We sleep while life and family are being attacked, undervalued, undermined, victims of a campaign of lies and illusions.
Same-sex unions are just another lifestyle, deserving the same status and privileges as heterosexual unions. The fact is marriage is a covenant relationship through which the couple?man and woman?cooperates in the creative action of God to procreate and perpetuate the species. No same-sex union can ever do that in any natural way. This is unchangeable. If love is the only basis for marriage and union, then children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren can marry each other, and neither would polygamy be sanctionable. Individuals who are attracted to members of the same sex would not exist without the natural union of man and woman.
You don?t have to believe in God to know you can?t procreate, in any natural way, without the union of man and woman. Artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization are not natural ways, regardless of their feasibility. The result, sadly, is that people who have recourse to these techniques may indeed be marrying their parents, siblings and grandparents. With cloning, you become your own identical twin! When sex becomes the basis for union?and is separated from procreation?we equate ourselves with the lower animals, implying we have neither reason, discernment, nor self-control, only instinct that must be indulged and satisfied.
The preferred constitution of family does not posit a mother and father in a stable, loving, self-sacrificing relationship. Thus we see the resulting complex intertwining of yours, mine, ours, theirs, with all its dysfunctions and increasing statistics with each generation, as a result of divorce, becoming the norm rather than the exception. We see women ?liberated? to carry the burden of breadwinner and home care-giver as more men become alienated from their roles as fathers and husbands. And instead of a growth in respect for womanhood, we see men?s increasing contempt and objectification of women as mere sex objects, exploited in life and in the media. Instead of elevating ourselves in our search for equality, we?ve pandered to the lowest common denominator, bringing out the worst in each other.?
Killing the young in our own wombs is a choice. In a world where science has taken the place of God, we ignore that technology which is now able to tell at the cellular level that a unique human being exists at the moment of conception. Ultrasonic technology allows us to see the fight of the fetus during an abortion to preserve its life, to say nothing of late-term abortions. Should we not err on the side of caution? When in doubt, as the doctor?s oath says, ?Do no harm.? We rationalize that it is a woman?s choice. Isn?t that choice prior to the formation of life? Otherwise, when does the choice end? We rationalize that it is to preserve the mother?s life. Who determines whose life is more valuable? Many a saint, including Christ himself, can claim lives more ?valuable? than their mother?s.
Mel Gibson?s movie, The Passion of the Christ, vividly reminds us that Christ came so that we might have life and have it to the fullest. It is a movie that reminds us of the sanctity of life, the unique role each is designed to play in God?s plan. Every human being is a unique being that results from the union of a man and a woman at a unique point in time. One second later, they?d be a completely different person. Our unique fingerprints and retinal prints amply demonstrate and prove this. These are not identical even for identical twins. Even if one rejects the notion of God, the evidence for this uniqueness testifies to their intrinsic worth and value to humanity.
God must be removed from all public reference and government in the name of liberty and equality. It has been said, you remove God from government and state, you remove its conscience and you get the Devil for a leader.
So the lies and illusions continue?
Dr. Thomas is an associate professor on the faculty of Information Systems at Pace University, New York. She may be reached by e-mail at thomas@pace.edu.
