Friday, June 28, 2013

Cultural Confusion and the "Marriage" Malaise

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Now that the Supreme Court has replaced God (and the California voters) and ruled as to the purpose of marriage----to affirm and make "equal" all sexual behaviors and lifestyles, more requests and supplications are being prepared to be brought before the judicial throne.

  • Polygamists are hopeful. They and their supporters celebrated Wednesday night, saying they see implication for their cause in the Supreme Court's ruling.
  • Advocates of same-sex marriage, emboldened by the US Supreme Court rulings, are pressing their advantage as they press forward with a $10 million campaign.
  • CNN is asking if "group marriage is next," while The Journal of Psychology is advocating for group marriage.

Is our culture morally exhausted from the relentless moral assault advanced by secular progressives?

Is the culture so divided and fragmented there could never again be a moral consensus?

Or are we paralyzed by confusion, lost in a moral malaise?

Here are more details and some thoughts.


The Salt Lake City Tribune is reporting, "Just hours after the court ruled that DOMA was unconstitutional, Joe Darger said he and his family were pleased. Darger, who with his three wives, detailed their life in the book, "Love Times Three: Our True Story of a Polygamous Marriage," said the ruling should help remedy polygamists’ treatment as 'second-class citizens.'"

"The government," he said, "can’t single out a single class of people for favorable or unfavorable treatment."

The Tribune says, "Darger added that he believes the decision also will influence the high-profile Brown case, which is pending in Utah before federal Judge Clark Waddoups. In that case, the polygamous Brown family — which is well known from the TV show "Sister Wives" — is suing to strike down the statute that makes bigamy a third-degree felony."

Darger said he is speculating "that Waddoups was waiting for the Supreme Court’s ruling to make a decision in the case. In light of DOMA’s demise," Darger said, "he expects a favorable ruling for the Browns and practitioners of plural marriage."

"This gives Waddoups all the ammunition he needs," Darger added.

MY Northwest, a homosexual advocacy group says, "Advocates of same-sex marriage, emboldened by two U.S. Supreme Court rulings Wednesday are pressing their advantage in states where gay marriage is still against the law. The American Civil Liberties Union is launching a $10 million campaign."

They say, "When the high court essentially struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, it set in motion changes in the way federal rights and benefits are granted."

The ACLU has also established a war chest to promote same-sex marriage in the 37 states where it's still banned.

"We're mounting a campaign to take marriage equality state-by-state across the country," the Seattle director of the ACLU said.

MY Northwest reports, "The campaign will enlist the GOP in the cause, including strategist Steve Schmidt, who has worked with Fortune 500 companies and worked on George Bush's 2004 reelection campaign."

The ACLU says, "It's really not a partisan cause, it's really about love and respect. And the ACLU nationally has hired a major, very experienced Republican strategist and he's going to help with this effort."

They feel testimonials from Washington state will advance the cause.

An ACLU leader says, "When you have legal marriage in one state, it really sets an example for other states, that this is something that can be done, that this doesn't have negative consequences, that's it's actually a very positive thing for the people of this state."

The ACLU plans to do outreach to gay conservatives and frame the issue of same-sex marriage in the context of freedom, fairness, and limited government intrusion.

CNN, earlier this Spring, had already begun the conversation about the legalization of "group marriage" but the advocacy in Psychology Today is very troubling.

Deborah Anapol, Ph.D., writes, "With the traditional nuclear family well on its way to extinction, we are faced with a question of critical importance: who will mind the children? Serial monogamy presents children as well as parents with a stressfully discontinuous family life. Meanwhile, an entire generation is at risk, as divorce is increasingly common fact of life."

It appears from her article (and her book on the subject) she believes same-sex marriage is as deficient as traditional, natural marriage. Her solution?

Polyamory. Group Marriage.

She writes, "While we don't yet know how polyamory impacts the rate of divorce; the little data we have suggest that it doesn't. We do know that practicing polyamory can help prepare parents to maintain family ties after a divorce because the issue of becoming jealous when confronted with a former mate's new partner has usually been dealt with already. Group marriages can mean a higher standard of living while consuming fewer resources. Intimate partners are more likely than friends or neighbors to feel comfortable sharing housing, transportation, appliances, and other resources. Even if partners don't live communally, they frequently share meals, help each other with household repairs and projects, and vacation together. This kind of cooperation helps provide a higher quality of life while reducing individual consumption as well as keeping people too busy to over-consume. Multiple partners also help in the renewal of our devastated human ecology by creating a sense of bonded community."

In the world described by our Supreme Court, how can we deny these people their right to marriage, since the basis for marriage is now to establish equality for all sexual behavior and to affirm people, helping them not to feel like their relationship is "second class."

I've linked the article above, but here are a few of her bullet points:

  • Group marriage may help provide siblings for children who would otherwise be lonely, only children. It can offer childless couples a low tech solution to the ever more common challenges of infertility. Multiple adult families can soften the ticking of the biological clock by providing older women the opportunity to raise and mother children conceived by a younger sister-wife. At the same time, polyamory helps overcome the apparent design flaw which mismatches ideal age range for pregnancy (20's) with ideal maturity and energy level for parenting (40's). As indigenous peoples know, it takes a village to raise a child!
  • Group marriage can help parents and children alike adapt to an ever more complex and quickly changing world. . New technologies are becoming obsolete almost before we can implement them. Trying to keep up can be stressful if not impossible for a single person or a couple. But a small group of loving and well-coordinated partners can divide up tasks that would overwhelm one or two people. Multiple-partner relationships can be an antidote to future shock.
  • One of the most common concerns about polyamory is that it's harmful to children, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Multiple-adult families and committed intimate networks have the potential of providing dependent children with additional nurturing adults who can meet their material, intellectual, and emotional needs.
  • More adults sharing parenting can mean less stress and less burnout without losing any of the rewards. In a larger group of men and women, it's more likely that one or two adults will be willing and able to stay home and care for the family or that each could be available one or two days a week. If one parent dies or becomes disabled, other family members can fill the gap.
  • While there no guarantees that polyamorous families, monogamous nuclear families, step families, extended families, or any other kind of family will create stable and nurturing environments where children can develop in an atmosphere of love and security, there are reasons to think that polyamory may be at least as good as the other options for raising healthy children. Maybe it's time for public policies that support polyamorous families!

Please don't tell me polyamorous "marriage" is not a topic of discussion among secular progressives.

Please don't tell me, as the Seattle press, Dave Ross on KIRO radio, and other activists across the state have done so many times that redefining marriage won't change your marriage.

Every time our government undermines society by becoming the "moral arbiter" in our culture, not only are businesses like Arlene's Florist in Richland and the Stormans' family pharmacy in Olympia impacted but every Christian who holds traditional values is impacted.

Government is not God.

We are living in a malaise of moral confusion.

While Christians are often accused of advocating for a theocracy, which we are not, the secular progressives have established one. They have exchanged God for government and Truth for the lie.

The American Psalm has become, "The government is my shepherd, I shall not want."

When cultural Marxism---we know it as relativism, was given root in our culture primarily through government run public education and the entertainment industry, the idea of God, His laws principles and values were marginalized, then completely put aside.

This was done out of "fairness" and "equality" in honor of so-called "multiculturalism."

Multiculturalism demands tolerance.

Tolerance demands a definition. So we instituted "political correctness."

If we are "tolerant" we are politically correct. Political correctness is constantly being redefined as popular beliefs and morals change. Morals change as people demand their particular behavior be affirmed. In "fairness" laws are changed.

People who embrace current moral norms as advocated by secular progressives are "good" people.

Those who have differing views on morality are "bad" people. Intolerant and bigoted.

America is not morally exhausted from the cultural assault--- although it is wearisome, we are morally confused.

So what to do now?

  • Stand for biblical truth in every way possible, every possible opportunity.
  • Pray. America will not be politically restored until it is morally restored.
  • Encourage others to awaken to the perils of our times.
  • Become active in influencing your community toward biblical values.
  • Look up. Redemption is drawing near.

Be Vigilant. Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be At Peace. Be Blessed.