Cal  Thomas







My source says another leading pro-family advocate believes such a restrictive amendment will not pass. But the Times/CBS poll suggests otherwise. Favorable numbers exist even before the congressional debate has begun and prior to state legislatures having an opportunity to vote on an amendment. Such an amendment will be popular in most states where people have long wished they could have their say in place of unelected federal judges who force-feed them cultural pollutants. A majority of the public thinks traditional marriage is important enough to preserve as an ideal, no matter how many may fall short of it.

Most people would probably be happy to launch a counter strike in the culture war. Many could be counted on to support an amendment that tries to do something about the social, moral and cultural erosion over which they have felt powerless. Surrounded by bad television, worse movies, anti-religious attitudes of judges and certain liberal activist groups, a pervasive sense that "anything goes," most of those responding to the New York Times/CBS News Poll apparently find a constitutional amendment in support of marriage a much-needed line in the sand. They think we have already gone too far, too fast on too many things.

If conservative groups fail to rally around marriage as a core value of our society and nation, there will be little left for them to stand on when activist groups try to remove the few remaining foundational principles of our nation. And they will try.

Marriage has traditionally been a fundamental building block of all stable societies. When it is undermined - whether by heterosexuals or homosexuals - societies crumble.

People have many rights in our nation, including the right of consenting adults to live together. They do not have the right to demand society approve of any and every relationship and provide benefits reserved for married heterosexuals. A constitutional amendment defining marriage in the traditional way is worth fighting for. With public opinion on their side, conservatives and their unlikely allies should settle for nothing less.

Cal Thomas
