Definition of Marriage

 

We live in a time of change, a time of uncertainty, and a time to stand up for beliefs that we hold dear. Whether our reasons be religious, secular, or some of each, we have a responsibility to uphold them, even amid tireless scrutiny. In the face of current changes in the laws regarding marriage in the United States, this is often easier said than done. Especially for a person like me, who would avoids contention like I would the plague. So the question remains, why are there so many of us who still believe that marriage truly belongs between one man and one woman? It's a hard thing to explain, I don't proclaim to do so eloquently, and though I will express some of the thoughts I have, I hope that I will convey that above all else, my message is in love. In love for those people I do know personally who are affected at a personal level by this issue, as well as in love for those I don't know personally.

A sociologist at Rutgers University, David Popenoe says the following: "The burden of social science evidence supports the idea that gender differentiating parenting is important for human development and the contribution of fathers to child rearing is unique and irreplaceable. We should disavow the notion that mommies can make good daddies just as we should disavow the popular notion that daddies can make good mommies. The two sexes are different to the core and each is necessary wholly, naturally, and biologically for the optimal development of a child."

Study upon study have shown that the ideal setting for raising a child is in a home with both a mother and a father who are married. This doesn't mean that those who are raised in single parent, same-gender parent, or other non-traditional families will turn out to be less than incredible people. There are people from all walks of life who end up on both sides of the line. This simply means that children, on average, fare better when raised with a married mother and father, each bringing their own unique and distinct sexual identity into the raising of a children.

The Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 cited, "At bottom, civil society has an interest in maintaining and protecting the institution of heterosexual marriage because it has a deep and abiding interest in encouraging responsible procreation and child-rearing. Simply put, government has an interest in marriage because it has an interest in children."

A senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Ryan Anderson says this, marriage "unites spouses at all levels of their beings: heart, minds, and bodies, where man and woman form a two-in-one flesh union. It is based on the anthropological truth that men and women are distinct and complementary, on the biological fact that reproduction requires a man and a woman, and on the sociological reality that children benefit from having a mother and a father."

Because I have a deep and abiding belief in the gospel contained within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the issue for me is also religious. I do believe that, as stated in the Church's Proclamation on the Family, "marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and that the family is central to the creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children... The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity."