Marriage Needs Defending

One summer, I was putting away the dishes at my first job in high school when I heard the announcement on the kitchen radio: same-sex marriage was made legal in all 50 states of the United States. At the time, I didn’t recognize the effect this legalization would have across the world, or even in my own home. When asked how I feel about same-sex marriage, I often respond with a quote that one of my family members frankly stated, which is, “love the sinner, not the sin.” In all honesty, this quote applies to all. No one is perfect, and we are all trying our best with the tools that we came with. I am not saying that same-sex attraction is a sin, because that is not true. Sexually acting upon one’s attraction outside of marriage between a husband and a wife is against the law of chastity, but the attraction itself is not a sin.

    What is the big deal about traditional marriage vs. same-sex marriage? Love is love, right? Correct, we are asked to love our neighbors and marriage is a commandment. However, while the world continues to change, the laws of God will not change. President Russell M. Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints states, “It was He who ordained marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Marriage was not created by human judges or legislators. It was not created by think tanks or by popular vote or by oft-quoted bloggers or by pundits. It was not created by lobbyists. Marriage was created by God!” (Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Disciples of Jesus Christ–Defenders of Marriage, Aug. 14, 2014.) When discussing with my husband, who tends to have a dry sense of humor, he said that God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Within traditional marriage, children are able to experience the parenting of both a father and a mother, which creates more of a balance in life as children are able to have both a protector and nurturer. Marriage and family is such a beautiful thing, which is why it is so important to defend it. I may not fully understand or agree with such practices of same-sex marriages, but I do have a deep love of those who do, as well as those who do not. Love will always be love.

Thank you all for putting up with me and my scattered thoughts. This topic is difficult to discuss, for I do not want to cause offense to anyone. However, this is one of the most important topics of today. Thanks, again.