California Family Minute

•   This Saturday, September 3 - Game Time: Tackling the Past. Another fine television movie sponsored by Walmart and Proctor & Gamble. Airing at 8 pm on NBC, Game Time is a drama about a sports legend finding his true meaning in life. Click here to watch the movie promo.

• Gain new insights into America’s founding by participating in a free webcast - Introduction to the Constitution - sponsored by Hillsdale College. Beginning September 15 with an online celebration that includes Senator Paul Ryan and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer, more online content will be made available each Monday thereafter for five weeks. Click here to register and receive suggested readings. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain! 

Talk about Marriage

by Ron Prentice,
Chief Executive Officer

We have taken marriage for granted. For ages marriage has been the joining together of a man and a woman, with commitments from both to “give myself to no other. . .until death do us part.” Marriage - and the family that almost always follows - is the primary institution that socializes humanity.

However, our society is filled with voters who lack foresight. Those who say, “alternative forms of marriage won’t affect me” or “government shouldn’t get involved in marriage” are uninformed. The redefinition of this institution is proven to have long-term effects of illegitimate children and decreased relational commitments, but by protecting its definition government protects its own future.

More than any generation before them, today’s young adults have seen less evidence of this institution’s purpose due to the impact of divorce. We can learn from them. By engaging young adults in conversation, we can improve the way in which we articulate truth, and foster a revival in traditional marriage’s reputation. 

Obviously, men and women are different from each other in many ways. The two genders, male and female, are “joined in matrimony” because they complement each other. We are physically different: male and female sexual organs were naturally created to function interdependently for procreation and sexual fulfillment. “Natural law” informs the human conscience of order and intent. 

We are emotionally and cognitively different. Research highlights the general contrasts between the way in which women and men communicate, process information, and respond to stressors.

So what? What keeps me yammering on about the “institution” of marriage? Here are three reasons to protect marriage.

1.     Children - Every daughter needs the attention of both a mother and a father. Every son needs the attention of both a mother and a father. Why not two or more “parents,” regardless of gender? Because a child best thrives in a home with his or her biological mother and father. Emotional disorders are often attributed to the absence of one or the other parent, ranging from early sexual involvement in girls to criminal behavior in boys.

2.     Society - Common sense ultimately led governments to formally support marriage and provide the status with special rights and benefits. By giving marriages and families special benefits, societies in turn benefit from lower crime, higher productivity, and generational stability.

3.     God - He created the natural order. He created us male and female. He created the marriage relationship after the marriage between His Son and the Church. If you are atheist or agnostic, the first two reasons are plenty to demonstrate that the structure of marriage cannot be altered without significant problems resulting. 

Spark up some conversations. Ask others for their ideas on marriage. Refine your own “talking points.” Inform the uninformed and get them to think ahead.

Prayer request: Next Tuesday, September 6, the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments regarding the legal standing of the proponents of Proposition 8. Please pray that the justices will rule that the will of the people and the traditional definition of marriage in California’s Constitution may be defended by a core of private attorneys, especially in light of both the California Governor and Attorney General refusing to do so.