Canada to Allow Same Sex Marriages

Wow, I’m surprised. Not that I should be surprised seeing as this is coming from Canada, but I really thought that the same sex marriage movement lost steam.

But alas, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien submitted a bill allowing for exactly that. The bill has only to go through the Canadian Supreme Court in order to be enacted into law.

Two problems with this. First, same sex marriages become entitled to marriage tax credits and programs intended for families, and so in a socialized tax environment you are giving money intended for small kids to folks who aren’t going to have kids (presumably).

Moreso in Canada than in the United States, this inevitably puts a drain on the pool of tax dollars devoted towards helping disadvantaged children. Taxes go up, and there now becomes a problem of tax credits for families going towards those who do not and probably will not have children.

Secondly, why institutionalize gay marriages de jure? Sounds like a silly question at first, but there is a reason why gay activists want this – to legitimize and mainstream by law what they have been unable to do in the churches.

In short, it is a roundabout way to legitimize gay marriages by law rather than by theology, which in the back of my Catholic mind says that they have lost the argument in the public square and are taking the argument to the courtroom. Mainstream Christianity simply isn’t buying into the rhetoric and is sticking very close to traditional Christian principles.

Marriage is a sacrament, not a law. The fact that gay activists have taken the battle for legitimacy outside the bounds of theology illustrates how weak their argument is within mainstream Protestant and Catholic circles.