The word on the street (and in the papers) is that upwards of 30 million dollars will be spent between now and November by activists on both sides of the gay marriage debate in California. That is when an amendment to the state constitution which would ban gay marriage will be decided by voters. The thing about this story that most interests me is the amount of money (a combined 27 million dollars was spent in the other 24 states that have already decided this issue with constitutional amendments) and, more specifically, the sources of much of it. Among those in favor of the amendment are the traditional conservative groups, most of them Christian; and among those one of the more generous contributors is expected to be the Colorado-based Focus on the Family.
I don't doubt, or intend to contradict, that the Bible teaches against homosexuality. I also understand that the issue is highly charged and emotional for many Christians. But I guess what I don't understand is how this issue is a priority worth millions of dollars for an organization that claims to focus on the family in a country where there are many other issues that are destroying families in a much more devastating way and at a much more rapid rate than anything associated with homosexuality ever will.
Nearly 50 million Americans have no health insurance in the richest nation in the history of the world. In a recent conversation about this issue with a friend, he said he didn't want any of his money going to support people who would not support themselves. Well, here's a newsflash: the vast majority of the people here who are uninsured are working full time, often at more than one job, and they still have no insurance because their employers either can't or won't provide it. And I defy any of these self-righteous capitalists to provide the basic necessities of life to their families on wages that typically don't produce incomes above the poverty level, much less find additional resources to purchase personal health insurance. And many millions of the uninsured are children who, obviously, are at the mercy of their situations.
Speaking of poverty specifically, check out the quote below taken from Wikipedia and based on U.S. Census and world poverty statistics:
Poverty in the United States refers to people living in poverty in the U.S. Within the U.S. the most common measure of poverty is the "poverty line" set by the U.S. government. The official poverty threshold is adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index. Poverty in the United States is cyclical in nature with roughly 12% to 15% living below the federal poverty line at any given point in time, and roughly 40% falling below the poverty line at some time within a 10 year time span.[1] While there remains some controversy of whether or not the official poverty over or understates poverty, the United States has some of the highest absolute and relative pre and post-transfer, poverty rates in the developed world.[2][3] Overall, the U.S. ranks 16th on the Human Poverty Index.[4]
Those under the age of 18 were the most likely to be impoverished. In 2006 the poverty rate for minors in the United States was the highest in the industrialized world, with 21.9% of all minors and 30% of African American minors living below the poverty threshold.[5] Moreover, the standard of living for those in the bottom 10% was lower in the U.S. than in any other developed nation except the United Kingdom, which had the lowest standard of living for impoverished children.[6]
Do you understand how utterly unthinkable it is that the U.S. is the LOWEST ranked developed nation?! Do you understand how many families are destroyed by poverty in this country every year? Do you have any idea how many millions of children suffer from easily treatable conditions in this country every year because they have no access to the finest medical treatment available in the world today? Do you have any idea how insignificant any detrimental effect gay marriage may have on American families will be compared to the answers to the above questions?
I would ask Focus on the Family to reconsider their allocation of significant resources to a cause that will ultimately pale in its influence on American culture and families when compared to the good their millions of dollars could do for the poor and suffering of this country. Or, if they insist on following through with their windmill-tilting campaign, please change the name of their organization. Let's call it Focus on Politics, or Focus on Media Attention, or Focus on Failure or something similarly appropriate; but do not tell me that your focus is on what's best for American families. If my family where falling apart because we were about to lose our home, or our child was sick and I couldn't provide care for him or we were just plain hungry because we couldn't afford to buy food, I truly don't think that I would believe that situation would be corrected or improved by banning gay marriage in California or any other state.
Read Matthew 25, especially where Jesus tells us what's important to him, and let me know what you find in there about gay marriage.
Pray for peace.
Mike
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