Gay Marriage Explained at ACLAIM seminar

“Same-sex marriage: why not?” This is what Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer of Human Life International stressed during his talk with participants from ACLAIM, recently.

Dr. Bullecer said that the legalization of same-sex marriage worldwide is a phenomenon. He showed a survey that finds split over attitudes towards gays worldwide which says: “Acceptance of homosexuality is particularly widespread in countries where religion is less central in people’s lives.” These richest countries are North America, Canada, and Europe, which in contrast with poorer countries with high levels of religiosity, only a few believe that homosexuality should be accepted by society such as in African Muslim countries and parts of Asia. Another data showed that there are around 70 countries where homosexuality is still illegal. However, there are 25 countries which accepted the same-sex union such as in Europe, South and North America, South Africa and recently the Unites States of America (USA).

In the Philippines, Dr. Bullecer showed a bill authored by Dinagat Island Representative Kaka Bag-ao. The House Bill no. 110 or An Act of Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity states: “Discrimination shall be understood to imply any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference, which is based on any ground such as sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, whether actual or perceived, and which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise by all persons an equal footing of all rights and freedoms.”

The Stand of the Catholic Church on homosexuality is that “Homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered… Under no circumstances can they be approved” (CCC No. 2357). Here are the reasons why homosexual marriage should never be supported:

It is not a marriage
“Marriage is only for man and woman; for pro-creation. It must be exclusive, it must be for unity. It denies self-confidence by logical, psychological, physiological and difference between man and a woman. Marriage has always been a covenant between a man and a woman which is by its nature ordered toward the procreation and education of children and the unity and well-being of the spouses while same-sex ‘marriage’ proposes an entirely different one: a union between two men or two women.”

It violates the natural law
“Marriage is not just any relationship between human beings. It is a relationship rooted in human nature and thus governed by natural law. Natural law’s most elementary precept is that ‘good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.’ By his natural reason, man can perceive what is morally good or bad for him. Any situation which institutionalizes the circumvention of the purpose of the sexual act violates natural law and the objective norm of morality.”

It always denies a child either a father or a mother
A child of a same-sex “marriage” will always be deprived of either his natural mother or father. He will necessarily be raised by one party who has no blood relationship with him. He will always be deprived of either a mother or a father role model. Same-sex “marriage” ignores a child’s best interests.

It validates and promotes the homosexual lifestyle
“In the name of the ‘family,’ same-sex ‘marriage’ serves to validate not only such unions but the whole homosexual lifestyle in all its bisexual and transgender variants, the LGBTX. Civil laws are structuring principles of man’s life in society. As such, they play a very important and sometimes decisive role in influencing patterns of thought and behavior. Legal recognition of same-sex ‘marriage’ would necessarily obscure certain basic moral values, devalue traditional marriage, and weaken public morality.”

It turns a “moral wrong” into “civil right”
“Same-sex ‘marriage’ opposes nature. Two individuals of the same sex, regardless of their race, wealth, stature, erudition or fame, will never be able to marry because of an insurmountable biological impossibility. Two, inherited and unchangeable racial traits cannot be compared with non-genetic and changeable behavior. There is simply no analogy between the interracial marriage of a man and a woman and the ‘marriage’ between two individuals of the same sex.”

It does not create a family but a natural sterile union.
“Traditional marriage is usually so fecund that those who would frustrate its end must do violence to nature to prevent the birth of children by using contraception. It naturally tends to create families. On the contrary, same-sex ‘marriage’ is intrinsically sterile. If the ‘spouses’ want a child, they must circumvent nature by costly and artificial means or employ surrogates. The natural tendency of such a union is not to create families. Therefore, we cannot call a same-sex union marriage and give it the benefits of true marriage.”

It defeats the state’s purpose of benefiting marriage.
One of the main reasons why the State bestows numerous benefits on marriage is that by its very nature and design, marriage provides the normal conditions for a stable, affectionate, and moral atmosphere that is beneficial to the upbringing of children—all fruit of the mutual affection of the parents. (see Art. 2 Sec. 12 Philippine Constitution) This aids in perpetuating the nation and strengthening society, an evident interest of the State. Homosexual “marriage” does not provide such conditions. Its primary purpose, objectively speaking, is the personal gratification of two individuals whose union is sterile by nature. It is not entitled, therefore, to the full protection the State extends to true marriage.

It imposes its acceptance on all society.
“By legalizing same-sex ‘marriage,’ the State becomes its official and active promoter. If approved in our county, the government will call on public officials to officiate at the new civil ceremony, orders public schools to teach its acceptability to children, and similar to the RH Law, punishes anybody who expresses disapproval. In the private sphere, objecting parents will see their children exposed more than ever to this new ‘morality,’ businesses offering wedding services will be forced to provide them for same-sex unions, and rental property owners will have to agree to accept same-sex couples as tenants. In every situation where marriage affects society, the government will expect Catholics and all people of good will to betray their consciences by condoning, through silence or act, an attack on the natural order and Christian morality.”

It is the cutting edge of the sexual revolution.
“If homosexual ‘marriage’ is universally accepted as the present step in sexual ‘freedom,’ what logical arguments can be used to stop the next steps of incest, pedophilia, bestiality, and other forms of unnatural behavior? The railroading of same-sex ‘marriage’ on the people worldwide makes increasingly clear what homosexual activist Paul Varnell wrote:

The gay movement, whether we acknowledge it or not, is not a civil rights movement, not even a sexual liberation movement, but a moral revolution aimed at changing people’s view of homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.”

It offends God.
This is the most important reason. Whenever one violates the natural moral order established by God, one sins and offends God. Same-sex ‘marriage’ does just this. Marriage is not the creature of any State. Rather, it was established by God in Paradise for our first parents, Adam and Eve. As we read in the Book of Genesis: “God created man in His image; in the Divine image He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.'” (Gen. 1:28-29) The same was taught by Our Savior Jesus Christ: “From the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother; and shall cleave to his wife.” (Mark 10:6-7). Genesis also teaches how God punished Sodom and Gomorrah for the sin of homosexuality: “The Lord rained down fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. He overthrew those cities and the whole Plain, together with the inhabitants of the cities and the produce of the soil.” (Gen. 19:24-25) (Janin R. Langoy)