I Don’t Think It Means What You Think It Means # 436

It is extremely common in the debate over gay marriage for the those who opposed to gay marriage to talk about how the people who support gay marriage want to destroy marriage and family…and they often use the word “Anti-Marriage.”

Anti-Marriage. 

And I cannot help but chuckle.  It is, afterall, the eaiest way to denigrate your opposing viewpoint.  To pretend it is a negtive.  The problem is?  It is a false description.  It is a lie.  Those that support gay marriage are not out to destroy marriage and family.  And they most certainly are not anti-marriage.

As a marriage supporter, and by that I include gay marriage, I can most certainly tell you that I want to encourage marriage and the building of families.  I think marriage and family are good and beneficial things.  And this is why I support not restricting to a narrow definition that is incredibly modern.  Marriage has had many faces-but the nuclear family is one of it’s newest.  Family has often been fast and loose (this is how Catholics claim Mary never had any child other than Jesus-biblical references to his siblings are really references to cousins or step siblings).  But family is (ideally) a good thing.  It can offer support, a safety net, and comfort in troubled times.  It can benefit society by passing down certain notions of goodness (such as don’t kill people.  Don’t bully people.  Don’t steal).

Those who support gay marriage are so pro-marriage, we feel that the gay community should be able to share in the freedom and privilage of the institution of marriage.

The only people I see being anti-marriage and family are groups like the American Family Association and the National Organization for Marriage.  They despise marriage so much, they want to restrict access to it it.