The Fight Traditional Marriage is a Fight for the Rights of Children

Here’s a tidbit of history for everyone. Marriage used to be a union exclusively between a man and a woman…and with good reason. scan_pic0743

Nowadays everyone so busy worrying about their own rights and privileges that they forget, or perhaps they never realize, marriage is not about having rights, it’s about giving them up. Thomas Sowell, one of America’s brilliant minds put it this way:

“In the absence of the institution of marriage, the individuals could arrange their relationship whatever way they wanted to, making it temporary or permanent, and sharing their worldly belongings in whatever way they chose.

Marriage means that the government steps in, limiting or even prescribing various aspects of their relations with each other — and still more, their relationship with whatever children may result from their union.

In other words, marriage imposes legal restrictions, taking away rights that individuals might otherwise have. Yet “gay marriage” advocates depict marriage as an expansion of rights to which they are entitled.” (Here is the rest of the article)

He puts “gay marriage” in quotes because, he argues, there is no such thing as “gay marriage.” The term in itself is meaningless.

The key: It is not an expansion of rights. It is a commitment before society that you will take care of any offspring produced by the union. Hence the importance of traditional values in marriage — where it isn’t ripped apart by selfishness, nullifying the stability and other benefits of being raised by a mother and father.

Ryan Anderson, in an address to the Indiana House Judiciary Committee stated this: “Marriage is the institution that different cultures and societies across time and place developed to maximize the likelihood that that man would commit to that woman and then the two of them would take responsibility to raise that child.”

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He also stated that: “The state’s interest in marriage is not that it cares about my love life, or your love life, or anyone’s love life just for the sake of romance,” Anderson explained. “The state’s interest in marriage is ensuring that those kids have fathers who are involved in their lives.”

Click here to hear more of his amazing argument!

Last year 5 major religions banded together and wrote an amicus brief to the United States Court of Appeals for The Tenth Circuit which concluded with the following:

“Marriage, understood as the union of one man and one woman, remains a vital and foundational institution of civil society.  The government’s interests in continuing to encourage and support marriage are not merely legitimate but compelling.  No other institution joins together two persons with the natural ability to create children for the purpose of maximizing the welfare of such children.  No other institution strives to ensure that children have the opportunity of  feeling a sense of security and being raised in a stable household by the mother and father who conceived them.  Undermining the husband-wife marital institution by redefining it to include same-sex couples will, in the long term, harm vital child-welfare interests that only the husband- wife definition can secure.  The result will be more mothers and fathers concluding that the highest end of marriage is not the welfare of their children but the advancement of their own life choices.  We know, from personal experience over numerous decades of ministering to families and children, that more focus on satisfying adult needs will not benefit vulnerable children.  The societal ills caused by the deterioration of husband-wife marriage will only be aggravated if the State cannot reserve to marriage its historic and socially vital meaning.  DATED this 10th day of February, 2014” (Read more here)

I personally don’t care about other people’s love lives (except my husband’s), but I do care about society as a whole and the welfare of children. Evidence is clear that a stable home with both a mother and a father is generally the best atmosphere for a child to be raised. Marriage has never been about rights and freedoms (at least not for the adults), it is legally all about restricting those rights and freedoms. Keep your freedoms and let society keep marriage the way it was intended — to protect the children.

ball-and-chain

Remembering Lew Wallace and Ben-Hur: By Shirley Raye Redmond

February 2015 marks the 110th anniversary of the death of author Lew Wallace—a former Army general and Wallaceterritorial governor of New Mexico. In my inspirational novel, AMANDA’S BEAU, the school teacher hero Gil Gladney loans my heroine Wallace’s bestselling novel to read: BEN-HUR, A TALE OF THE CHRIST.

Many of you are probably familiar with the book or perhaps the classic movie starring Charlton Heston as the title character. Interestingly enough, when the novel was first released in Ben Hur1880, it was considered unusual for its time—too romantic, and historical fiction was not popular with readers. Wallace declared that after researching and writing the novel, he was convicted with an “absolute belief in God and in the divinity of Christ.” The novel was not expected to become a bestseller, but it did.

After reading and enjoying the book, my heroine Amanda returns in to Gil, saying, “It made me want to be a better person, a stronger Christian. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes, I do,” Gil replies.

When Lew Wallace died at the age of 77 in 1905, his many books had earned him more royalty income than any other American novelist up to that time. Today, a marble statue of Wallace stands in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capital—representing his home state of Indiana. He is the only American novelist honored there.

 

Book Blurb:
The year is 1905. It is autumn in the village of Aztec in New Mexico territory. Amanda Dale is burdened with the responsibility of caring for her widowed sister—an invalid—and Ella’s two children—one a premature infant. But Amanda wants a husband and children of her own and despairsAmandasBeau that God does not care about her plight. Schoolteacher Gil Gladney is handsome, intelligent, and God-fearing. He is drawn to Amanda, but feels he cannot propose marriage until he is able to purchase the ranch he has been saving for.

When Gil and his pupils discover the relics of an ancient culture among the ruins outside the village, Gil contacts an old college friend. The possibility of an archeological excavation excites the community of cash-strapped farmers, eager to earn extra money working on the site. 

Gil is delighted when Nate Phillips comes to Aztec to take up the challenge. When a rabid skunk reels through the excavation site, threatening the lives of Amanda and her nephew Rex, Gil realizes that life is short and the possibility of true happiness can be fleeting. In the end, Amanda learns to trust God to provide the happily-ever-after ending she’s been praying for.

 

SRR #1

 

An award-winning children’s book author, Shirley Raye Redmond holds an M.A. in literature from the University of Illinois. She has been married to her husband Bill for forty years, and is active with Community Bible Study. They have two grown children and two adorable grandsons. Lewis & Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President (Random House) was a Children’s Book of the Month Club selection. Patriots in Petticoats: Heroines of the American Revolution, was named one of the best children’s books of 2005 by the Bank Street College of Education. Amanda’s Beau is her first inspirational romance.

Connect with Shirley Raye:
www.shirleyrayeredmond.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shirley-Raye-Redmond-Author/533496973399344

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/239947.Shirley_Raye_Redmond

ICICLE’s First Anthology! OUT OF THE STORM

This week I had fun being interviewed by India’s Crown in Christian Literature Excellence-ICICLE.  I invite you to slip

Now available from Amazon!

over to there and take a look. There are three ways to qualify for a free copy of

Out of the Storm!

ICICLE’s First Anthology! OUT OF THE STORM.

 

EXCERPT:

He jumped in, sending up a spray of mud and water as his boots sank into the shallow stream. Pistol ready, he pulled up one side of the waterlogged structure. There was a feminine gasp.

“Anything?” An officer called from the edge of the grove.

For a moment, Pavel couldn’t pull his gaze from the two pools of terror shadowed by long lashes. The girl, almost a woman, was undoubtedly the priest’s daughter. They had been told there was one, but though his duty was clear, how could he bring himself to do it?

Out of the Storm — Now Available!

Finally, that day I know we’ve all been waiting for! Alright. Maybe I’ve been closer to the edge of my seat than the rest of you, but to add to your excitement I am giving away a hard copy to someone. Leave a comment here and/or share on Facebook and it could be yours! I’ll even autograph it before I put it in the mail–I know, now you’re feeling the rush of adrenaline.

 

Fire in a Storm by Angela K Couch

USSR 1934

“He was secret police and he knew his purpose. Religion was the enemy and God, the deception. Then a glimpse of gold and silver, and the woman who wore it, threatened everything he trusted.”

Instead of rambling on anymore, I’ll let you go to Amazon and read it for yourself. It’s really easy to find the story you want as it’s conveniently located at the end of the book. Nothing like ending an anthology with a “bang” … but now I’m giving away too much information. 😉

Also, for fun, you can check out my Pinterest board for “Fire in a Storm”, to get a feel for time, place and characters. There is even some music to set you in the mood.