Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

Marriage defines society's fabric

Canadians will go to the polls in another federal election soon - if not in six weeks, then surely in six months. And while the sponsorship scandal will rightly be at the centre of much discussion, a far more important issue for the nation's future is that of same-sex "marriage."

Those who favour redefining marriage believe this redefinition will not have much effect on the wider culture. However, the redefinition of marriage will almost surely provoke major deleterious changes in Canada's social landscape.

No-fault divorce was promoted as a compassionate solution for people stuck in "dead-end marriages." In fact, once no-fault divorce was approved, the number of divorces skyrocketed, now taking down 40 per cent of marriages and leaving hundreds of thousands of children essentially fatherless. Not only has divorce become much more common, but the underlying dynamic of marriage has been affected by the belief that for a marriage to be "successful," it must provide emotional fulfillment to both partners.

Legal abortion was proposed as a way to save women from back-street butchers and from pregnancies conceived through rape or other unfortunate, but relatively rare, circumstances. We now have 115,000 abortions a year in Canada, abortion is seen by many as a right and the country's birth rate is well below what is needed to maintain a stable population.

The proposal for same-sex marriage comes into a society already hurting from the separation of marriage and procreation, and the separation of procreation from child-rearing.

Abundant research shows that the best home situation for children is where their biological parents raise them. Such research seems to make no difference to public policy development. Consumerist hedonism influences public policy more than does the long-term interests of children. The pervasive lie is that children are infinitely resilient - they can cope with any misfortune thrown their way - while adults are completely unresilient - they must have all their emotional needs met now.

The acceptance of same-sex "marriage" will deepen the trends that throw children to the wolves. Even more children will be raised without fathers (or mothers) and the view that fathers are unnecessary for proper child development will grow. Thanks to reproductive technologies, men will be further marginalized from reproduction and from their own social maturation. The great, but difficult, good of male-female cooperation will erode further.

The belief will emerge that if same-sex female couples can have children through reproductive technology then same-sex male couples should have that "right" too. Ergo, the ban on surrogate motherhood will be erased.

Increasingly, the state or someone other than their biological parents will raise children.

Religious freedom will be severely curtailed as people of faith protest the growing inhumanity and find themselves accused of intolerance and violations of human rights.

None of this will be any good for children and will go a long way in wiping out the glue that holds society together. Eventually, as more and more children grow up who have been raised in situations of relative indifference to them, the amount of violence in society will increase and the idea of marriage as a permanent commitment will inexorably disappear. People will simply become incapable of making such a commitment.

This erosion of the social fabric will not be the fault of homosexuals any more than it is the fault of the rest of us. The decline is already in process. But it is not inevitable. What we need, however, are leaders with the foresight and the courage to say what is happening and who will take steps to revitalize the institution of marriage as a permanent commitment of one man and one woman.

- Glen Argan

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Western Catholic Reporter