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Marriage Amendment is Needed to Preserve Civilization
By Doug Patton
September 1, 2003

President Bush is said to be "flirting" with the idea of supporting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

"I believe in the sanctity of marriage," the president said in a July 30 press conference. "I believe a marriage is between a man and woman, and I think we ought to codify that one way or the other."

Such codification is not only needed, it is crucial to the continuation of civilization as we know it, and the only instrument capable of stopping our courts from redefining marriage is a constitutional amendment that spells out what civilized people have known for thousands of years - that marriage is a union of a man and a woman, period.

U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., has drafted such an amendment, the narrowly defined language of which the president may very well endorse.

Musgrave's amendment reads, "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any state, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups."

This summer, in a sweeping decision sure to affect this debate more dramatically than anything so far in the ongoing crusade for so-called "equality" for homosexuals, the United States Supreme Court created another new "right." This time it is the right to commit homosexual sodomy with any willing partner. The decision struck down the Texas law against such practices and opened wide the door to the "right" to same-sex marriage.

Add to that the civil unions law in Vermont (thank you, Howard Dean), the election of a homosexual bishop by the Episcopal Church, an avalanche of gay characters on television and the fact that Canada is poised to legalize same-sex "marriages," and we have, quite simply, a recipe for civil disaster.

Rulings expected soon on this issue, in Massachusetts and in other states, will determine whether the White House endorses the Musgrave amendment. But Barney Frank and others in Congress are already reminding the public that Dick Cheney (no doubt influenced by his lesbian daughter) had stated during the 2000 election campaign that the issue of same-sex relationships should be left up to the states.

Some social conservatives are concerned that the Musgrave amendment does not go far enough, that it should also prohibit the kind of civil unions Vermont is now bestowing. I, too, would prefer to see the kind of amendment passed by 70 percent of the people in Nebraska in 2000. That amendment forbids the recognition of civil unions, as well as marriages, by the state.

Could such an amendment be passed at the federal level? Only if the president enthusiastically endorses it. Will that happen? In an election year, flip a coin.

Polls have long shown that Americans are, for the most part, a very tolerant people, with a strong majority of us perfectly willing to live and let live. But as tolerance has given way to approval, and finally to the outright promotion of homosexuality, those same polls are showing a sharp backlash toward such "lifestyles."

Never in the history of the world has any society placed same-sex relationships on the same level with monogamous, heterosexual marriage. Even in cultures where homosexuality was tolerated, such as ancient Greece, it was still considered deviant.

This is no longer just a matter for theologians. It is a matter for us all. The time is now to push for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to define marriage, and in so doing, put that definition out of reach of the judiciary. Civilization depends on it.

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Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and public policy advisor to candidates, elected officials and organizations at the federal, state and local levels. His weekly columns can be read in newspapers across the country, and on selected Internet web sites, including www.GOPUSA.com, where he serves as the Nebraska Editor. He also writes for Talon News Service (www.TalonNews.com). Readers can e-mail him at Doug.Patton@GOPUSA.com.