Why is the fence there?

An old proverb says "Before you move a fence you should find out why it was put there in the first place." This is why I am convinced of the need to speak to the topic of marriage. Before we as a country and as a culture agree to change what we say marriage is we should probably find out why we ever valued it in the first place. I have a number of thoughts on this issue myself, but Alan Shlemon does a very good job of laying out the basic issues here.

In particular I agree with his statement at the end of his article, "Make no mistake about it. Redefining marriage will impact our culture. It won’t be today, next week, or next year. It will be in the long-term because ideas have consequences."

I have heard it said a number of time recently that people who believe in the traditional marriage are on the wrong side of history, and that the redefinition of marriage is inevitable because that is where our society is headed. Perhaps we are, but I am afraid that while we could be on the wrong side of history for a few years, we are not on the wrong side of history in the long run. Human nature has not changed, and if some believe that we can destroy basic societal units and rebuild them however we chose then they are fooling themselves.

Simply put, humans function best under specific conditions, and to deny that obvious truth is like denying gravity. You think you can fly right up until the time you hit the ground.

http://str.typepad.com/weblog/2012/05/should-homosexuals-be-allowed-to-marry-whom-they-love.html