[gridlock]

. I don't see that there is much to be done to stop this and I don't see it as a threat to my beliefs or even what God intended those things to be. They are still what they are. There has not been a law written nor will there be that subverts God's law.

The problem comes when people confuse the civil law with God's Law. Look at divorce. It is a simple matter to get divorce in this country. Just show up at court with the papers signed and the man forks over all his money for the rest of his life, and the civil marriage is over.

But this does not and should not mean that the two people are no longer married. Unfortunately, for most folks, the civil law and moral law are equivalent, and the marriage is over when the court says it's over. Since our courts will always be permissive, since we will always vote to be allowed to do whatever we darn well please, having the courts decide on divorce can only weaken the institution of marriage.

Similarly with expanding the definition of marriage. Absent judicial intervention, the great mass of people will continue to think of marriage as the traditional joining of a man and a woman. A small minority may take a different view, but if there is no need for a judicial definition of marriage, then the view of the minority need not be imposed on the majority.

Thus if marriage truly is a durable societal archetype, it will continue as before, without governmental recognition or sanction. However, if government is involved, it can only destroy the institution.

Government can never create. It can only destroy.

[ShandaLear]

I agree with you completely. For me this is why it's so important for Christians to uphold the standards we believe are sanctioned by God regardless of which way the wind is blowing through government. We can no longer expect government to legistlate based on our sense of morality and religious ethics. So many of us fail to live up to those standards that I find it kind of laughable that we would try to impose what we can't do ourselves through civil law. Until people's hearts change, this is the world we will live in.