Recently President Obama floated the idea of allowing same-sex marriage already a law in some countries like Sweden, Denmark, Holland and others. It is said that this is a ploy by the democrats (with a few dissenters in the party) to court the highly well organized gay lobby. By reaching out to the middle sex Obama is gambling on overcoming the expected strong reaction from the religious right with a solid neo-liberal vote.
The pundits are divided on this perception; there are those who say that this is Obama’s political Waterloo while the rest look at the move as a well-calculated maneuver that will insure the Obama reelection.
Whatever the electoral contest will produce, the fact is that if the proposal will triumph in Congress it will have a strong negative impact on the US mores and culture.
The issue of gay marriage should be judged according to whether or not it deviates from natural law and as far as we Catholics are concerned the precepts of the Church. If we go by natural law defined as the order which governs the activities of the material universe such as the instinct of self-preservation, heterosexual union and the love of offspring, any deviation from these norms of conduct can be considered as contrary to the laws of nature or the natural order of things. They can also be considered as sinful in the eyes of the Church.
Curiously humans are more apt to go against the laws of nature than animals. For example, you do not see a lion mating with another king of the jungle or allowing their offspring’s to be threatened by outsiders. These are called natural instincts. Moreover animals do not destroy the environment as wantonly as human beings, nor do they resort to genocide as we have seen people do in world wars.
Indeed there is a price to pay for going against nature. For example, the aids epidemic has been traced to homosexual coupling while wide scale abortions and other forms of population control have created massive economic problems in places like Singapore, China and European countries. Today the so-called grey dawn poses a more serious problem than the population explosion. China’s one-child policy is now responsible for the slowdown in her economy while Europe and Japan’s greying population is causing havoc in their social security system.
The preamble of the 1986 constitution implored the help of Almighty God in ordaining and promulgating the Saligang Batas and at the same time pledged to protect and strengthen the family (composed of husband and wife). Ergo, those who would try to pass a same-sex marriage must first seek the amendment of the constitution, because clearly same-sex marriage is against the will of God (the punishment of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, for example) and does not protect the sanctity of heterosexual marriage.
The Philippine Constitution is ordained to the promotion of the common good and again it is clear that traditional heterosexual marriages are good and necessary for the survival of society through procreation. There are many more arguments against same-sex marriage which are not necessarily religious. For one, homosexual marriage will encourage the culture of homosexuality now hidden in the closet. History records the epidemic of homosexuality in pagan Rome. Additionally, adopted children of homosexual unions will most likely grow up as gays.
The impact of an increasing homosexual society on demography and development can only be imagined. For those economists who equate development with a balance of people and natural resources, non-procreative families will speed up the current problem of rapid population ageing the bane of developed economies.
In putting up this argument, lest we be accused of being homophobic or cruel to homosexuals, let us say right away that we have only the deepest sympathy and understanding for our brothers and sisters who have adopted this way of life, most of them from genetic disorder or psychological problems. Should they wish to live together for better or for worse, in sickness and in health etc. they cannot be prevented from doing so. That is their call which they will have to account for in the presence of the Lord in the final judgement. But please no marriage license!
Recently President Obama floated the idea of allowing same-sex marriage already a law in some countries like Sweden, Denmark, Holland and others. It is said that this is a ploy by the democrats (with a few dissenters in the party) to court the highly well organized gay lobby. By reaching out to the middle sex Obama is gambling on overcoming the expected strong reaction from the religious right with a solid neo-liberal vote.