Tucker, Dan...
If someone believes something is Right, in this case Traditional Marriage being between a man and a woman; What sort of person are they if they don't stand up against those trying to CHANGE what a marriage is?
I guess I don't see how anyone
can change what marriage
is.
Like it or not, an individual marriage is defined by the people
within said marriage, not by society, not by the laws.
I could no more prevent two men from claiming that they are married than I can prevent two divorced people from claiming they are "re"married to each other.
I instead keep my own marriage defined in the traditional sense: One man and one woman joined for life.
If the government decided tommorow that it did not want to recognize my marriage to my wife, the fact that she and I are married would be unchanged. It would
still be a lifelong bond between one man and one woman for the purposes of raising a family together.
I have a word for those people, craven. Or unprincipled, either works to be honest. "I believe in this... but I won't stand up for it cause well... it's really none of my business..."
I guess it depends on perspective then.
I tend to look at things with a worldview similar to that espoused by Jonathan Swift in his satire commonly referred to as "The Battle of the Books".
In that story, Swift describes the battle between the moderns and the classics where the moderns sought to tear down the classics in order to be considered on teh saem plane. Swift's tretise was that the moderns should instead seek to elevate themselves to teh level of the classics.
That one achieves equal consideration by bringing oneself up to the level of greatness, instead of tearing others down to give the appearance of equality.
Conversely, one maintains their elevated status in a similar way. Instead of seeking to hold others down to avoid being seen on a equal level, one simply continues to elevate oneself, or allows the other to reach the saem plane without any fear of losing status.
I look at the marriage debate in the same way.
In this case, same-sex couples are actually doing as Swift intended. They are not attacking the foundations of traditional marriage in order to tear it down. Instead they are seeking to elevate their alternative marriages to an equal plane of recognition.
As a person who is involved in a traditional marriage, and values it greatly, I do not feel threatened by their attempts. I'm secure enough in the intrinsic value of traditional marriage so that I do not feel that their attempts threaten it in any way.
In truth, there is nothing at all to fdight or defend, becaus ethere is nothign being done to degrade traditional marriage in this case.
If they were actually trying to tear down traditional marriage, I would be far more inclined to fight such a change.
But traditional marriage is a valuable enough aspect of society it is not at all threatened by non-traditional marriages.
I don't think there is any need to defend traditional marriage because of this lack of a threat.
Instead, I promote traditional marriage every single day through my actions. I love my wife, and I tell her that everyday and she does the same for me.
We work through the hard times and support each other in all ways.
Neither of us considers divorce an option, because our vows were for life.
We are now trying to start a family together.
So while you may think I'm not taking a stand in my beliefs, I consider the exact opposite to be true. I live the traditional marriage in every way. My stand is to preserve it and cherish it.
Nobody is trying to change my marriage because nobody
can change it.