Family Leader Marriage Vow

Let’s talk a little more about this Iowa Family Leader organization; this time, their Marriage Vow document.

I read the actual document; it’s not just an anti-Gay document. It talks about the taxpayer-borne costs of fragmented families and children born out of wedlock. Although I agree with a lot of what they have to say, the document scares me. The only bible references they quote are: Genesis Chapter 2, verses 18-25 which talks about Adam and the gift of Eve; Mark Chapter 10, verses 2-9 which states you don’t leave your parents except for marriage and you don’t commit adultery or divorce your wife and Ephesians Chapter 5, verses 22 – 33 that speaks of the wife submitting to the husband and the husband being her savior in order to define marriage. They use many other documents to reference human trafficking, pornography, and many other sexual situations (like rape) that we as a country do not approve of. Basically I found that they only supported single people with no sexual encounters and couples without divorce as anything else led to fragmented families and a large cost to the budget. The document left me with a feeling that only Jews and Christians are recognized as true believers in God and their ultimate goal was strict adherence to the bible and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Since the Family Leader document encompasses much more than the Gay issue I’ll make this a 2-part concern and I’ll start with DOMA as Gay marriage is what is being touted in politics. According to Wikipedia, DOMA is a US federal law whereby the government defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Under the law, no US state (or other political subdivision) may be required to recognize as a marriage a same-sex relationship considered a marriage in another state. The law passed both houses of Congress by large majorities and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996. Section 3 of the law codifies a lack of recognition of same-sex marriage for all federal purposes, which include family insurance benefits for employees of the government, survivors' benefits from Social Security, and joint tax filings. This section has been found unconstitutional in two Massachusetts court cases and a California bankruptcy court case; however, the court rulings are under appeal. Parts of the act have also been deemed unconstitutional by the Obama administration, which announced in 2011 that while they will enforce DOMA, they will not defend it in court.

When we think of Gays it’s normally Sodom and Gomorrah that come to mind. These places were destroyed in Genesis Chapter 19 and the issue of Gays does not come up after Jesus is born (remember that it’s not mentioned in the Commandments) except in passages spoken by others (not God or Christ).

Michelle Bachmann’s husband Marcus, of Bachmann & Associates Christian Center, is a licensed therapist, who said he doesn’t try to change Gay people (there is more than one subject to say otherwise). On the news I saw a tape showing a therapist in Bachmann’s employ saying God has designed our eyes to be attracted to the woman’s body. I swear my eyes see more than that; with that logic all women would be Lesbians. The American Psychological Association says the idea of converting Gays to straight through therapy is ineffective and potentially harmful. Some say that such therapy can cause depression and suicide.

The Huffington Post on December 16, 2011 at 02:50 PM ET reported that - Shortly after signing the Family Leader's controversial "Marriage Vow" pledge (Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum also signed this document), Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich signed another anti-gay marriage pledge, this time from the National Organization for Marriage (NOM). Signing the pledge means Gingrich (or any signer of the document) has committed to backing a US constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage and defending the DOMA in court. This means he must appoint judges and a U.S. attorney general who "will respect the original meaning" of the U.S. Constitution's definition of marriage as between a man and a woman (according to NOM's website). NOM's pledge has now been signed by every major Republican presidential candidate but Ron Paul (Jon Huntsman hasn’t signed it either). Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum signed the pledge back in August.