Homosexual Marriage (aka Civil Unions) Now Law in Hawaii

"An issue of this magnitude which alters the very foundation of our society should be decided through a constitutional amendment after a full public debate, and not by the legislature."

We as a society will rue the day our state failed to heed those words of the Hawaii Catholic Conference. Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan campaigned on precisely this stance. Let the entire state decide by a vote. But the Democratic Party, the one that prides itself on standing up for the little guy, the people, begins the fundamental transformation of our society by legislative fiat. To Hades with the will of the people.

Two thousand years of settled wisdom, established law, and a moral sensibility that has transcended every culture and nation, has now been dispensed with by a miniscule fraction of the population. Back to Ancient Rome we go.

And here are the words of Bishop Tobin of Rhode Isalnd:

"We believe that matrimony is a sacred union of one man and one woman, designed by God and blessed by Jesus Christ, and that it is a fundamental building block of every society and culture. We believe that persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God and our brothers and sisters, deserving of our respect and prayers. We believe, however, that homosexual activity is immoral, that it is contrary to the natural law, the tenets of the Bible and the teaching of the Church. We believe that the concept of gay marriage or civil unions detracts from the common good and is harmful to families, and that the state should not, and in fact cannot, ratify such unions."

Fundamental building block. Got that? Rather like the keystone in the Roman arch that holds the entire structure from toppling. So now that the ruling party has removed the keystone, do they, and we, know how this toppling will flesh out? The abnormal has now become normal; the aberrant now mainstream. Pressure, pressure, pressure upon us all: accept the men kissing in the park, the two women pushing the baby stroller, the Saturday morning library readings on the carpet about Heather's two mommies, the photos at Charlie's workplace of Charlie and Peter locked in myriad embraces. All with the imprimatur of law, against which none dare speak. Children want to belong, want to accept. This drumbeat of pressure to accept that which in their hearts, in the recesses of their God-given consciences, they know to be unnatural will give rise to inner conflict. Will you be a ring-bearer for Judy and Joan's wedding? So how do you know you like only girls unless you try boys too? Your Uncle Fred will be staying with us this week with his husband Paul.

How long before we Christians lose the right to speak and to act in opposition? Before we are sued, fined, silenced, and ostracized for holding to our values? As Bishop Tobin says, persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God and our brothers and sisters. We must love and accept them as people, as Christians have been commanded to do since Christ walked among us. But not immoral behavior. Never.

As goes the family, so goes the nation, and so goes the world in which we live.

Pope John Paul II knew the attendant dangers of the warped impulse to redefine or demean marriage and family. Communist control of children, cohabitation, easy divorce, "homosexual marriage" (aka civil unions) are some key ways to chip at society's bedrock, to weaken the substrate upon which all rests, to foment collapse.

What have we wrought?

Just one month after Governor Patrick Quinn of Illinois signed the civil union bill into law, a homosexual couple has filed complaints with both the Illinois Attorney General and the Illinois Department of Human Rights for the refusal of two innkeepers to rent out their privately owned bed and breakfasts for a civil union ceremony and reception. One of the bed and breakfasts, Timber Creek in Paxton, Illinois, is owned by Jim Walder, a Christian father of five children. This family's life has been turned upside down. So much for their rights.

Christians in Hawaii, gear up for battle.