Reactions to the Supreme Court’s (so-called) gay marriage decision

By Tom Quiner

“Same-sex unions, whatever legal form they take, cannot create new life. They cannot duplicate the love of a man and woman. But they do copy marriage and family, and in the process, they compete with and diminish the uniquely important status of both. The legal battle about marriage will continue. And the Church’s commitment to promote the authentic meaning of marriage and family will be vigorously pursued.”- Archbishop Chaput

“Science, common sense, and God’s wise design show us: there are differences between moms and dads, and those differences matter.” – Fr. Zach Kautzky, pastor, St. Augustin Catholic Church, Des Moines, IA

“Some will rejoice in today’s decision, and some will despair at it; that is the nature of a controversy that matters so much to so many. But the Court has cheated both sides, robbing the winners of an honest victory, and the losers of the peace that comes from a fair defeat. We owed both of them better. I dissent.” — Justice Anthony Scalia

“Today is a tragic day for marriage and our nation. The Supreme Court has dealt a profound injustice to the American people by striking down in part the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The Court got it wrong. The federal government ought to respect the truth that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, even where states fail to do so. Marriage is the only institution that brings together a man and a woman for life, providing any child who comes from their union with the secure foundation of a mother and a father.” – Archbishops Timothy Dolan and Salvatore Cordileone

I react from a secular viewpoint and a religious one. First, the secular.

Secular society created the institution of marriage to protect children. Children thrive in a family growing up with their mom and dad. We don’t need any studies to confirm this common sense foundational truth, although studies do confirm it. Children can only be produced by the union of one man and one woman. So, from a secular viewpoint, marriage was all about children.

Secular marriage has always been non-discriminatory. People with same-sex attractions have always been able to get married, but only to someone of the opposite gender. By the same token, people with opposite-sex attractions have always been prevented from marrying someone of the same gender, because marriage was all about children, not attractions.

The new thinking puts children on the back burner.

The new thinking puts our attractions, our feelings, our lust on the front burner.

The new thinking is self-directed. It is selfish. It will hurt our kids and our communities over time.

From a religious viewpoint, I am even more concerned about so-called same sex marriage. I react as a practicing Catholic. My Church tells me that acting on same-sex attractions is gravely disordered and separates us from Christ, just as any sexual activity outside of marriage separates us from Christ.

A secular embrace of so-called gay marriage will seduce some men and women fighting these attractions to embrace behavior that jeopardizes their salvation. If the state says it is normal, well, then it must be okay.

Advocates of so-called same-sex marriage use a common tactic in advancing their unhealthy agenda. They claim the Catholic Church hates “homosexuals.”

This is not only untrue, it is exactly the opposite of the Truth.

If a practicing Catholic, such as I, encouraged behavior that puts someone else’s salvation at risk, I put my very salvation at risk as well. What could be more unloving, more un-Christlike than to let someone else go to hell out of political-correctness?

I believe I will stand before Christ one day. He will ask me what I’ve done to feed His sheep. If I tell him that I’ve fed His sheep a line that says gay marriage is okey dokey, well, I really don’t won’t to put myself in that position.

The practicing Catholic, along with so many of our Protestant brothers and sisters, love our friends and family fighting same-sex attractions way too much to put their souls at risk. Let me go further: we love our enemies too much to put their souls at risk (which is why we actively pray for human abortionists and their employees).

The stakes are so very high.

Join me in praying for the soul of America.