The following is my letter I've sent to a not-so-nice site called Australian Marriage Forum. They advocate not legalising same-sex marriage in Australia for the sake of our children.
Dear Australian Marriage Forum,
FINALLY – someone is speaking sense!
From your website:
We are people and organisations who are concerned at how advocates are pushing for same-sex marriage without really presenting the reality of what this means for our nation. We are disappointed with the one-sided debate which sees 'marriage equality' only in terms of adult rights, and we urge our fellow Australians to consider the rights and needs of the child as well.
This site will help people to think from the child's perspective in addition to the adults' perspective and consider what it means to normalise, with the force of law, a domestic model where a child is deprived of either a mother or a father. Further, this site will consider the implications for school education, where the normalising of homosexual 'marriage' will be used to further normalise homosexual behaviour. Finally, this site will look widely at implications for the stifling of free speech and free conscience that has been observed in overseas jurisdictions which have introduced same-sex marriage.
It's important to note that legislation to support same-sex marriage will have enormous consequences on our culture and we want an open and honest debate on this - free of the intimidation that so many defenders of natural marriage have been subject to in recent years.
But why are you stopping here? OMG – every child should be raised in a loving household with a mother and a father. You should be supporting celibacy before marriage – with severe punishments to anyone who disobeys – and definitely compulsory sterilisation of every person who is deemed to not be a loving mother or father. In fact, you should be putting your money into mass producing birth control that the government can oversee – a compulsory injection to stop you having children until you can prove yourself a person worthy of having a child. Let’s crowd fund it!
And no single parents – ever. I completely agree. Should a spouse die or divorce, then the children should be immediately removed from the household. Immediately. They should not be allowed to see their single parent again, because it may be detrimental to their upbringing. Imagine! Deprived of a parent! Who would allow such a thing?
And normalising homosexual behaviour? Oh my my my. We must ban ALL mention of homosexual behaviour because it will warp childrens’ brains. Starting by taking out the all the people in history who may’ve exhibited this abnormal behaviour – and we do not want to read about the love between Samuel and Jonathan in the bible. No no no. And of course, any animal that has ever been witnessed to display homosexual behaviour, well now, we must exterminate them. Sheep, cows, swans... It is all abnormal. I hear that lions raise their young in groups where there are many female lions and only one male. That must mean that those baby lions are not getting a true representation of their needs. Imagine that? Only one daddy?
And I’m SO glad you brought up the topic of school education. I mean, really? A lesbian couple could never get their children to school. They would be way too busy in the bedroom. Therefore, school education must come first with our society by stopping any child that could possibly be raised in a household where there is not a single mum and dad as the parental union. Two mums or two dads cannot be entrusted with our precious children and their education.
Your comment about “natural marriage” however, did haunt me, and sent me to Google to have a look at natural marriage. I’m not sure which example you are hoping to follow, so I would appreciate an email back to tell me which natural marriage example we should all be following. For example:
· Ancient Athenian men apparently disliked women immensely and put off marriage until they were in their late 30s, then married teen girls.
· Ancient Egyptians married their siblings.
· Native American Indians often took numerous wives, and could marry a person of “the third gender” who was not a man or a woman.
· The Pawnee tribe of American Indians would often share their wives with their brothers in a polyandry union. Young boys would also became “junior husbands” to their mother’s brother’s wife, and have sex with her until he married.
· In the Comanche tribe, when a man died, his wife would then become the wife of his brother. “In anticipation” of perhaps dying one day, a man would often share his wife with his brother.
· In Australian Aboriginal culture, a man can take more than one wife at a time, and divorce is easily obtained via mutual agreement.
· In Amazonian Zo’e culture, marriage doesn’t occur at all. Women have children with whatever man they wish.
· In Amazonian Yanomami culture, they practice polygamy and wives are regularly beaten to keep them docile and obedient.
· Ancient Japanese marriage required both parties to be of equal social standing.
· In Ancient Chinese culture, only marriage between a parent and child were banned. All other marriages (siblings, cousins, grandfather-granddaughter) were allowed. In some periods of China, a single woman would be married to all the brothers in one family who then shared her.
· Traditional Jewish marriage requires a strict seven year engagement between the couples.
· Islamic marriage can be polygamous and child brides are often chosen.
· In ancient and present Kyrgyzstan, bridal abductions are commonly practiced, where women are kidnapped and forced into marriage.
· The Wodabee of Niger marry their cousins in polygamous marriages.
· In Somalia, brides can be promised in marriage before they are born.
· The Nandi people of Western Kenya allow two women to marry, with one woman becoming the female husband. She takes the male role in the marriage, and the wife is allowed to have children with whatever man her female husband choses for her.
· In Zimbabwe, a girl-child is married to her paedophilic rapist.
But enough of that. What does the bible say? Natural marriage should come from the bible, after all. The Islamic translation of Genesis chapters 23 and 25 confirm that Isaac married Rebecca (the mother of Jacob and Esau) when Rebecca was three-years-old, and took her to wife (ie had sexual relations). If it’s in the bible, then it must be okay, right?
So therefore, I thank you for your fight for the rights of children and their natural marriage. Under your guidance, parents will only need to be parents for three years until the husband takes over. Which makes the education (and those lazy lesbians who can’t get their kids to school) a moot point.
So yes – let’s bring forth the honest debate. Let’s bring forth the openness and stop discriminating against those who wish to keep our “natural marriages.” We must allow all people to have their say. Free speech for everyone!
Oh – except for those who support same-sex marriage. We don’t want them to have a say. Why, think of the horror? Those men who marry other men and make the conscious, rational, loving decision to have a child? Those men who were brought up by straight people? Those men who have an adult right to love and care for a child?
And lesbians? They can just move to Kenya, right?
And all those who identify as something other than homosexual or heterosexual. Madness that they should demand to have a say in their own love life, and sexual reproductive life.
Let us not forget the perfect children that come from the union of one man and one woman. Because without those pesky non-straight people, our jails wouldn’t be full. Because straight people in a marriage are perfect specimens who never break the law, never abuse children, never do anything to harm children.
Bravo, Australian Marriage Forum. Bravo.
#sarcasm
With kind regards,
Renae Kaye