So says uber-idiot Bryan Fischer, using the same old tired and irrational argument we always hear from bigots like him:
Our survival as a civilization, as a culture, depends on protecting the institution of marriage, everything is at risk here: our economic prosperity, our survival, our national security, all of it hinges on our willingness as a culture to protect monogamy and to protect the institution of marriage.
Now if there was some link between letting gay people get married and harming the institution of marriage, he might have a point. But the one who is anti-marriage is him, not us.
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richardelguru
October 12, 2011 at 10:43 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Shouldn’t they be working to cut down on the number of people permitted to divorce rather than the number permitted to marry?
DOMA is like having a ‘Defence of the Realm’ Act that does away with the Air Force because it didn’t exist in Biblical times.
Aquaria
October 12, 2011 at 10:51 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
There’s nothing sillier than a hysterical godbot.
jameshanley
October 12, 2011 at 10:52 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
a ‘Defence of the Realm’ Act that does away with the Air Force because it didn’t exist in Biblical times
Even worse, the Constitution doesn’t mention an Air Force!
eric
October 12, 2011 at 10:57 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
He quotes George Washington in that link. I find the quote interesting in two respects. One, because George was talking about “religion and morality” – not marriage – being two pillars on which the nation rests. So he’s quote mining to begin with.
The second reason it’s interesting is that George spends the entire preceding paragraph (and much of the rest of the letter) railing against the much greater and more important evil of having the executive collect too much power. He talks about the need for checks and balances, and giving people the freedom to live the way they want, and the desire of powerful people to try and rule in areas where they shouldn’t. Demanding the executive keep marriage straight based on George’s letter is really missing the forest for the trees.
Marcus Ranum
October 12, 2011 at 10:58 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
If marriage equality will destroy a country, it deserves to be destroyed. Let ‘er rip!
Captain Mike
October 12, 2011 at 10:58 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Even leaving aside Fischer’s bigotry, I can’t really see the connection between protecting monogamous relationships and the things he mentions.
Ramel
October 12, 2011 at 11:05 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Exactly what point would that be?
Also why is the blog telling me that there are ’2 Responses to “Marriage Equality Will Destroy America!”’ when I can see six on my screen?
d cwilson
October 12, 2011 at 11:12 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well, Fischer wouldn’t know as he’s never read that document.
cholten99
October 12, 2011 at 11:19 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
>> our willingness as a culture to protect monogamy and to protect the institution of marriage.
> Now if there was some link between letting gay people get married and harming the institution of marriage
Yup, maybe he’s realised that attacking gay marriage is a lost cause (we could only hope) and instead is going after poly-people who are the ones that could be seen as really “attacking monogamy” (poly is going to be one of the next big fights for general acceptance).
slc1
October 12, 2011 at 11:23 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Re James Hanley @ #3
It’s even worse then that because the Constitution specifically authorizes an army and a navy. If the founding fathers wanted the US to develop an air force, they would have included it along with the army and navy,therefore, it is obviously unconstitutional! (end snark).
ashleymoore
October 12, 2011 at 11:26 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I currently live in Holland, which has had legal gay marriage for many years.
It has a lower divorce rate and was much less affected by the current recession than the US. So you can tell Fischer for me that he can stop all his fretting.
jamesmc
October 12, 2011 at 11:27 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
so this is fischer’s claim:
“everything is at risk here: our economic prosperity, our survival, our national security”
now here’s a world map of countries that have legalized same sex marriage, and those that still criminalize homosexuality.
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/10/09/opinion/09bruni-grph.html?ref=sunday
the former includes norway, sweden, spain, and canada. the latter features advanced societies like uganda, belize, sudan and iran.
i’m not going to do it, but i bet if we compared statistics like per capita gdp, life expectancy, infant mortality, crime, and any others that would measure “economic prosperity . . . survival . . . national security” the same sex marriage states would be the big winners.
Larry
October 12, 2011 at 12:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
re Ashley@11
Ashley, nothing will stop the godbots from fretting. Its what they do. They are totally convinced that their hatreds are shared by their zombie lord (imagine that!). Real-world examples won’t sway them as reality has been suspended in favor of superstition.
John Hinkle
October 12, 2011 at 2:27 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
For those failing to see the connections, it’s easy:
A) Allow gay marriage
B) Say what?
C) Something
D) Aren’t bats actually birds? It says so in the Bible.
Ergo: Economic prosperity, survival, national security >> all flushed.
Corollary: Send me money, stat!
robb
October 12, 2011 at 2:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@jameshanley:
even more worser: the bible doesn’t mention an Air Force!11!1!!1
cptdoom
October 12, 2011 at 2:58 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And what, pray tell, does monogamy have to do with marriage? Nonmonogamy is a grounds for dissolution of a marriage, if at least one party in the marriage wants it, but it is not a requirement for divorce, or else we’d have a Secretary of State named Rodham who’d be back on the dating market.
I suppose it would also be fruitless to let Fischer know that, until relatively recently, the only grounds for divorce were adultery on the wife’s part, right? Because women were property of men and therefore adultery was a property crime. Men could screw around with single women all they wanted – in fact IIRC it is a capital crime in England to have adulterous sex with the Queen, but not the King.
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