In the wake of the “gay marriage” vote in New York, David Bass
tells
social and cultural cons to cheer up because, he argues,
politically, we’ve done pretty well so far. Just “consider the
numbers”:
Thirty states have amended their constitutions to protect
marriage. With the exception of New England, those states encompass
every region of the country — the Pacific and mountain west, the
Midwest, and the south.
By my count, at least two more states will have amendments on
the ballot in 2012 - Minnesota and (likely) North Carolina. If both
pass, that would take the total to 32 states, or nearly two-thirds
of those in the union. (Indiana might pass one in 2014).
But here’s the problem: We’ve won (most) political battles, but
lost the culture and the argument. If current trends continue —
and there’s really no reason to think that they will not — then
it’s only a matter of time before “gay marriage” overtakes the
nation. (And if the politicians are slow to act, you can be sure
activist, left-wing courts will force their hand.)
Politics and politicians, after all, follow the culture. And
there has been a concerted, decades-long effort by Hollywood and
the media to legitimize homosexuality and to put same-sex
relationships on a par with traditional male-female relationships.
You don’t need to look at polling data to see this. Instead,
look at the culture. Gay characters are celebrated and portrayed as
plaster saints, and the more squalid and unhealthy aspects of the
gay male lifestyle are ignored.
The popular television show, Will and Grace, for
instance, has two very likeable gay male characters. Another
popular television show, Glee, produces story lines that
portray gay men as no different, really, than their straight male
counterparts. Behavioral differences between heterosexual and
homosexual men simply don’t exist in Hollywood’s mythical
world.
This is what Maggie Gallagher means when she
talks about the cultural power of the gay lobby. That power is
strong, capable, sophisticated and formidable — and on the ascent
politically. Why, even Fox News has given short shrift to the
marriage debate, Gallagher notes.
Our problem as conservatives has been to draw the line between
tolerance and acceptance of our gay brothers and sisters (a good
thing) and putting homosexuality on a social, legal and cultural
par with heterosexuality (a bad thing).
Simply put, we have not been able to draw that line. When
Hollywood and the media propagandize about homosexuality — which
they do incessantly — we have been left defenseless. Consequently,
misplaced notions of “rights” and “equality” have quickly
overwhelmed the reasonable and modest notion that society should
affirm a traditional sexual ethic and historic understanding of
marriage.
I don’t suggest that this means we should give up; far from it.
As a deeply fallen and sinful Catholic, I must believe in miracles,
even political miracles. And even if we lose the larger-scale
culture war, we might still win important battles involving
religious liberty.
But Focus on the Family’s Jim Daly has it right:
Although we’re winning the younger generation on abortion, we’re
losing them on same-sex marriage.
65 to 70 percent of [20- and 30-somethings] favor same-sex
marriage. I don’t know if that’s going to change with a little more
age — demographers would say probably not. We’ve probably lost
that. I don’t want to be extremist here, but I think we need to
start calculating where we are in the culture.”
