The Centrality of Family – Constitution Party Statement

The family is the centerpiece of life, the foundation of all society, and even the center of God’s dealing with His people.  He began by giving Adam a family.  He called Abraham and promised him a great family heritage.  The church is spoken of over and over again in terms of family.  Jesus Himself taught us to think of God in terms of “Father.”

In recent decades the family has fallen under greater and greater attack.  In the 80’s it was the whole “Murphy Brown” thing highlighted by Dan Quayle, saying dads were optional.  In the 90’s Hillary Clinton tried to tell us that the “village” was more crucial than the family.  Now, we want to redefine marriage itself, the foundation of family.

As I continue to post here various portions of the Constitution Party’s platform, I am especially appreciative of their statement regarding family, opposition to so called “gay marriage,” etc.  Yes, I know the GOP platform also contains this element but compare the differences in motivation.  

The GOP says that “It has been proven by both experience and endless social science studies that traditional marriage is best for children.”  The implication is that if I could argue that experience and “studies” prove otherwise, we’d have to redefine marriage.

The CP platform says that “The law of our Creator defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman.”  Here the foundation of the principle is not man-made science or observation, but the law of God.  It does not change.  This is a much more important statement, and yet one more reason I believe truly conservative, God-honoring people should support the CP.

Here is the rest of the family statement (which can be found along with the rest of the CP platform here.)

Family

    No government may legitimately authorize or define marriage or family relations, as affirmed by the 10th amendment, delegating to the people as our founders understood the family as necessary to the general welfare. We affirm the importance of Biblical scripture in the founders' intent as eloquently stated by Noah Webster: "The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitution and laws… All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts in the Bible."

The law of our Creator defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. The marriage covenant is the foundation of the family, and the family is fundamental in the maintenance of a stable, healthy and prosperous social order. No government may legitimately authorize or define marriage or family relations contrary to what God has instituted. We are opposed to amending the U.S. Constitution for the purpose of defining marriage.

We reject the notion that sexual offenders are deserving of legal favor or special protection, and affirm the rights of states and localities to proscribe offensive sexual behavior. We oppose all efforts to impose a new sexual legal order through the federal court system. We stand against so-called "sexual orientation" and "hate crime" statutes that attempt to legitimize inappropriate sexual behavior and to stifle public resistance to its expression. We oppose government funding of "partner" benefits for unmarried individuals. Finally, we oppose any legal recognition of homosexual unions.

We recognize that parents have the fundamental right and responsibility to nurture, educate, and discipline their children. We oppose the assumption of any of these responsibilities by any governmental agency without the express delegation of the parents or legal due process. We affirm the value of the father and the mother in the home, and we oppose efforts to legalize adoption of children by homosexual singles or couples.