A hot topic these days is homosexual "marriage" and whether or not it should be allowed and/or legal. Some people mistakenly believe that a homosexual relationship can be called "marriage." They are libertines and fools, who would deny crystal clear scientific and theological facts in their quest for public acceptance of sodomy and other deviant sexual acts. But even some people who understand and agree with the "one man, one woman" definition of marriage still have reservations about a consitutional amendment, because they feel that this issue should be resolved at the state, rather than the federal, level. It is an issue of states' rights, they say. They are well-meaning, but they are wrong.
Broadly speaking, the Founding Fathers operated under the premise that "We the People" would always be a God-fearing lot, self-governed and sober, following the moral code of the Bible even if we didn't agree on the exact nature of God or the way in which He should be worshiped. With that in mind, they did not bother to codify a comprehensive set of Biblical precepts into the Constitution. There was no need; after all, the precepts were already printed in the Bible, and everyone was, and always would be, intimately familiar with, and obedient to, the Law of God. So they assumed.
"To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea." (James Madison)
"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." (Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence)
"If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity." (Daniel Webster)
"Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other. The divine law, as discovered by reason and the moral sense, forms an essential part of both" (James Wilson, signer of the U.S. Constitution)
"Statesmen...may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which Freedom can securely stand." (John Adams)
"[O]ur citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament, or the Christian religion." (Noah Webster)
"The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained." (George Washington)
"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people." (John Adams)
There is more, much more, but hopefully the Fathers have made their point with these few quotes.
If those men were creating the Constitution today, though, they would likely throw up their hands and throw down their pens in disgust at the moral apathy, if not the total abandonment of morality, currently being exhibited by many Americans. If pressed to generate the Law of the Land, they would almost certainly decide that, due to the public's general ignorance of Biblical precepts, those precepts must be codified into the secular law, in an effort (however futile) to keep America from destroying itself from within.
The fact that marriage was, is, and always shall remain, an institution ordained by God between one man and one woman, is as much a foundational truth as the sanctity of human life. It is not an issue that is up for debate, at any level of government, and in reality it should not need to be codified at all; it is a "self-evident" truth. Slavery and abortion are obviously wrong, yet both have been legalized in America. One of those evils was addressed with a constitutional amendment which restored the slaves' unalienable right to liberty. The other evil is still at large, depriving thousands of children every day of their unalienable right to life. There should have been no question about slavery, but there was. There should be no question about abortion, but there is. It is not an issue of states' rights. It is an issue of right and wrong.
Whenever libertines attempt to shout down the truth, and they are willing to flout the law in order to further their agenda, a constitutional amendment is a legitimate means of forcing an end to the matter. If we have to reprint the Ten Commandments and other Biblical precepts within the pages of the Constitution in order that they may regain their original status as the pillars of American law and society, then so be it. It is a shame that it has come to this, and we dishonor the lives of our forefathers by our lack of virtue as a nation, but it is never too late to take a stand for what is right.
The sad thing is that so many Americans have become so detached from their moral moorings that they can't even come up with a coherent argument against homosexual "marriage," abortion, or even slavery for that matter. Separated from the God of the Bible, they have lost their common sense, along with the capacity for basic rational thought. But that's another topic.
Posted by jon at February 18, 2004 12:03 PM