Skip to main content


President Obama Orders Justice Department to No Longer Defend Marriage

2/27/2011

(Page 2 of 2)

achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality." They are well-funded and committed to a cultural and social revolution. They poured massive amounts of money and human resources into electing this President. Along with him they are committed to "remaking America."

They advocate what I call the "Homosexual Equivalency Movement". This is not about discrimination against anybody. Homosexual equivalency activists insist that all Americans recognize a legal equivalency between true marriages and cohabitating practicing homosexuals or face legal punitive consequences. They are social and cultural revolutionaries. The Human Rights Campaign uses the Courts and the legislature to force this kind of new America on all of us. Now, they have the unbridled support of the Executive Branch of the Government.

The effort to equate how one engages in non-marital sexual acts with a member of the same sex to being a member of a particular race or gender (thereby making practicing homosexuals a "protected class" for civil rights purposes) is legally and socially dangerous. One is a status; the other involves a behavior and a lifestyle. To confine marriage to heterosexual couples is not discriminatory. Homosexual couples cannot bring into existence what marriage intends by its very definition.

This week we mourned the passing of a Pro-Life giant, Dr. Bernard "Bernie" Nathanson. Bernie was quite vocal concerning the verbal strategy of the movement he helped to found before he came to see the truth about the humanity of the child in the womb and became one of the great Pro-Life leaders of our age.  He was a friend. I will always remember his passion when he spoke of the strategic use of the word "choice" to hide the evil of procured abortion. He said it was the turning point in the public debate. He was correct.

Every law student learns that the one who frames the issue usually wins the argument. A shift occurs first in language.  The Press went from speaking of the Right to Life, which is the real issue, to defending a so called "Right" to abortion. Defenders of our first neighbors in the womb went from being identified as Pro-Life to being called "Anti-Abortion Rights". I thought of Bernie when I read the news today. Did you notice the titles of most of the articles? They framed the issue, "President Will No Longer Defend Anti-gay Marriage Law."  Homosexual Equivalency Activists are assisted by some in the media who support their cultural agenda.

In his apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Charity, Pope Benedict summarized the duty of the Catholic faithful when confronted with this assault on authentic marriage:  "Marriage and the family are institutions that must be promoted and defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature, since whatever is injurious to them is injurious to society itself." Those who support marriage as a lifelong committed relationship between one man and one woman are being pilloried in the press. No matter where one stands on other issues, if you support marriage - as marriage - you are being brushed with all the disparaging terms thrown at people who insist that there is any such a thing as objective truth in an age of moral relativism.

In order to help us to comprehend what is really occurring let me borrow a Property Rights Analogy. It does not even come close in terms of the magnitude of the danger we now face because persons and their flourishing are so much more vitally important than the ownership of property. However, it may help to unmask the tactics being used.

We still defend the private ownership of property as a "right". Let's say that next year; a group among us had decided that "private property" should mean that our land also belongs to the neighbors on adjoining land. Why? Because they decided that approach was better and changed the definition. Then they decided to enforce that private opinion upon the broader society, insisting that the law recognize their new definition by giving it an equivalent status to the "traditional" notion of private property. Next the President of the United States decided on his own to no longer defend the right to private property and ordered the Justice Department to no longer defend property ownership.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Church addressed growing efforts in some Western nations to redefine marriage in 2003, "The Church's teaching on marriage and on the complementarity of the sexes reiterates a truth that is evident to right reason and recognized as such by all the major cultures of the world. Marriage is not just any relationship between human beings. It was established by the Creator with its own nature, essential properties and purpose. No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman, who by mutual personal gift, proper and exclusive to themselves, tend toward the communion of their persons. In this way, they mutually perfect each other, in order to cooperate with God in the procreation and upbringing of new human lives."

Government has long regulated marriage for the common good. For example, the ban on polygamy and age requirements were enforced in order to ensure that there was a mature decision at the basis of the Marriage contract. Heterosexual marriage, procreation, and the nurturing of children form the foundation for family and civil society. The President's decision to no longer defend marriage is a threat to the common good and must be opposed.


- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention:
The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Obama, Homosexual Marriage, Gay Marriage, defense of Marriage Act, Human Rights Campaign, Abortion, pro-Life, Deacon Keith Fournier

NEWSLETTERS »

E-mail:       Zip Code: (ex. 90001)
Today's Headlines

Sign up for a roundup of the day's top stories. 5 days / week. See Sample

Previous Page  1 | 2

Rate This Article

Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 10 of 102 Comments

  1. Rob
    2 years ago

    What do you expect? Both sides are willing to fall on their swords for their ideology, thus broken government. If one side is for it, the other side is against it, no matter what it is. I can't even follow it anymore because it's so broken. The failure to address the real causes of the deficit, our failure to consider raising taxes and our failure to want to cut any spending is what is causing the ship to sink. We can debate the size of the hole, but the whole left by our abject failure to deal with any of these issues, will sink the ship. In this case, ALL of the politicians are still looking for safe bets and cover. Am I disgusted these cuts didn't pass, yes. Am I disgusted we didn't have the common sense to raise revenue a few months ago, yes. And I'm disgusted that ideologies which are completely devoid of common sense don't solve anything. The only people with blinders on vance is all of us for tolerating this nonsense for as long as we have. We need a complete re-set.

  2. vance
    2 years ago

    Rob, Today, every Marxist Democrat Senator voted against Speaker Boehner's $61 Billion Cut. Both sides the same, I don't think so. We have a $14 Trillion debt. That means 14 thousand billion dollars. What is 1% of 14 thousand billion? $140 Billion. What does the Marxist Democrat Party want to cut? $6.5 Billion. You are right about people with blinders on. What does it say about people who are out in the middle of a bay in a boat and cheer and applaud while people are sinking their boat.

  3. Rob
    2 years ago

    I disagree vance. Fox News is a pretty powerful organization and has the ratings to demonstrate that in the media universe, it's just not the liberal message being delivered. I really think this has more to do with a country that is almost evenly split on the abortion issue rather than a party etc.

  4. Kathryn
    2 years ago

    Those on the left have become very good at framing issues near and dear to them, and as this article to eloquently points out, that's the way to win an argument. They complain about "rights" being denied certain persons - these "rights" are not legally the government's to grant. The government does not grant rights - it protects those that have been given by God. Nowhere in the United States Constitution is a "right to marriage" or "right to kill your child" detailed. No one's rights are being taken away by defending marriage and unborn children. You can't take away what wasn't there in the first place.

  5. vance
    2 years ago

    Rob, Speaker Boehner delivered the 'Goods' but Obama and the Marxist Democrat Party are 'Doubling Down' to fund abortion and break this country. Yes, I hope Boehner hangs tough against the Marxists but it's going to be rough because the Marxists own the media and Hollywood and that's a tough propaganda blitz to compete with.

  6. Rob
    2 years ago

    Agreed Vance. I only hope that if the GOP does assume the White House in 2012, that you display the same level of zeal in ensuring that they pursue the same values. For my part, that is the missing component in this whole process. Conservatives do a great job getting their folks elected and then the promises are forgotten. It's part of the reason the GOP lost so badly in the elections cycles preceding the last one and a lot of the reason for the tea party. Obama was a convenient target, but if you forget the GOP's role in where we are at, then you can't solve the problem. Obama wouldn't even be in office if the GOP had cared less about power and were really conservative. Hopefully they have learned their lesson.

  7. vance
    2 years ago

    Sara, your posts hit the proverbial nail on the head. I wish I could have said it as well as you. Speaker Boehner is in the process of forming a bi-partisan legal team to defend the Marriage Law. We the faithful should email Boehner's Office to thank and encourage him for his efforts. We should also be calling for Obama and Eric Holder to step down from office.

  8. Gabriella
    2 years ago

    The idea of sexual 'intercourse' between same genders comes from the hell itself and Our Lord said that the gates of hell will never prevail....! - by their fruits you will know them - and we have yet to see some fruit that is edible and beneficial.

    As soon as we cool off and stop paying so much attention to those erring people, their waters will subside. They are weaving a net of their own destruction so let us leave them alone and keep protecting our young ones by teaching them the Truth.

  9. SaraPalen
    2 years ago

    it's about more than campaign promises as the Catholic Church is being directly indicted here by judicial activist judges and munincipalities. WE are being told by judges that gender has no role in the upbringing of our children. We better be paying attention to this. Even local bargaining units are pushing for these things. Will federal money be spent in our schools to promote this "tolerance"? Precedent by evil precedent, built on a foundation of sand is being set as Mr. Barron has alluded to, like they did with "privacy rights", including the "right" to kill a human being, under the 14th amendment. How sick is that to the Christian men who debated that amendment? Look around at what is happening in other countries. When this marriage equivalancy is acknowledged, Christians and others lose their rights to practice their faith. We need to hold our representatives feet to the fire. We need to speak out for the truth in a world of moral relativism.

  10. Rob
    2 years ago

    vance, there are multitudes of laws the justice department does not pursue. Every administration picks their pet crimes and pursues them and leaves others unenforced. Maybe it's a lack of resources etc, but the fact remains, not every law is zealously pursued. But I will say this is different since there is pending litigation. I understand what you are saying about the oath, but I think that is subjective. Wouldn't every president who has not enforced immigration laws be guilty of this same crime? Again, I'm not trying to defend him, but I don't think this issue is as simplistic as folks are making it sound unfortunately. But like clockwork, the saber rattling of social issues has begun, must be capaign time again. It's about the only time social issues get any play and like campaign promises are quickly forgotten once their terms begin.


Leave a Comment

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment


Newsletter Sign Up

Daily Readings

Reading 1, Sirach 1:1-10
All wisdom comes from the Lord, she is with him for ever. The ... Read More

Psalm, Psalms 93:1, 1-2, 5
Yahweh is king, robed in majesty, robed is Yahweh and girded ... Read More

Gospel, Mark 9:14-29
As they were rejoining the disciples they saw a large crowd ... Read More

Saint of the Day

May 20 Saint of the Day

St. Bernardine of Siena
May 20: In the year 1400, a young man came to the door of the largest ... Read More




Marketplace

Click Here

The Medjugorje Fasting
The Medjugorje Fasting Book attempts to answer these and other ... Read More


Click Here

Benedictus
Created expressly to celebrate the ordination of Pope Benedict XVI. ... Read More