It boggles the mind that one of the most polarizing issues in America today is over something that could not be more clear: the preferred makeup of a family.

In November 2003, four members of the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the state must offer the protections and benefits to two any two individuals who wish to marry, even if they are of the same gender. It is this decision, and not some proactive desire of Christian activists to impose morality on the rest of the nation, that has spurred the movement to define marriage the way God does.

Don’t think for a moment that the Massachusetts ruling, and subsequent actions by rogue politicians in New York and California to marry same-sex couples, was “luck” on the part of the homosexual community. Rather, it was the manifestation of a well-thought-out plan that was devised decades before but articulated in April 1993 at the Gay Pride March on Washington, D.C. The homosexual demands at that march included, among other things:

• The legalization of same-sex marriages.
• The recognition and protection of any family structure man could conceive.
• Homosexual education programs at all levels of education presenting homosexuality as a valid, healthy preference and lifestyle as a viable alternative to heterosexuality.
• Allowing sexual re-assignment surgeries to be considered medical, not cosmetic, surgery.

Homosexual activists have been busy, focused and relentless in seeing their demands come to pass. Fortunately, Christians and other values voters have responded to this threat to the fabric of our culture.

The legalization of same-sex marriages is far-reaching and has consequences that we have only begun to imagine. If same-sex marriage is legalized, then on what basis can marriage be denied to any other group or coupling? Just as we have laws in this nation to protect our currency from the counterfeit, we must have laws to protect the true definition of marriage. Without legal recognition, that which is real has no value.

CMC supports an amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage exclusively as the union of one man and one woman. One recent proposal, called the Marriage Protection Amendment, reads as follows: “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, or the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.”

Simple, right? The amendment is intentionally simple, because the definition of marriage is simple. The union of one man and one woman is what marriage is. God defined it in His Word, and He didn’t ask us for a new definition because He didn’t need to.

It’s true that 38 states have enacted laws similar to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. These laws would be adequate if homosexual advocates and activists judges could be trusted to leave the laws alone. Unfortunately, these laws have come under direct attack by liberal judges and renegade mayors. So Christians must be vigilant in preserving in our constitutions – our foundational governing documents – what God intended (and still does intend) for our benefit.

Most importantly, we must bombard heaven with prayers and intercessions for our nation. God has promised us, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14, ESV).