Love Is a Money-Splendored Thing
The media has always wanted to claim neutrality on marriage, but this week, they've lost the right. After years of spinning the debate on same-sex "marriage," one of the country's largest news agencies dropped the facade of impartiality and signed a brief to strike down the federal marriage law. Along with 277 other companies, the Reuters Corporation decided to make the marriage debate personal by encouraging the Supreme Court to invent a right to same-sex unions. So much for media objectivity!
Among the phony arguments made in the brief, companies argue that protecting natural marriage is somehow "bad for business." Of course, you don't have to be an economist or even a statistician to recognize the absurdity of the Left's claim. Much as they'd like to ignore it, marriage is--and always will be--the greatest source of human capital on earth. And guess what? That human capital--our children--grows up to be these companies' employees, its future customers, and even, in Reuters's case, its future readers. Secondly, marriage creates more prosperity than any relationship on the planet. One study just released by Ohio State University found that couples who get and stay married can accumulate as much as four times the wealth of their single or divorced friends.
Now, I'm no financial expert, but I think most of these CEOs would agree that wealth drives consumerism. So how, exactly, would marriage--which gives couples more money to spend--hurt business? And why would changing the laws for 3.4% of customers (while offending a vastly larger majority) attract business?
In recent days, there's also been a growing misconception that same-sex "marriage" would help local economies. That's interesting, because the states that have redefined marriage are actually experiencing greater financial struggles than the states with marriage protection laws. At the National Organization for Marriage, experts analyzed 10 key economic indicators--everything from job growth and state GDP to income rates and unemployment--and found that states with marriage amendments do significantly better than those with same-sex "marriage." In fact, NOM points out, states with same-sex "marriage" are "disproportionately represented in the negative categories of nearly half of the measures and underrepresented in most of the positive measures." If you doubt NOM's numbers, click over to Forbes's 2012 "Best States for Business" report. Every state in the top 10 has protected natural marriage from redefinition except one (Iowa)--and its court ordered it.
Unfortunately, none of these practical objections stopped a group of not-so-prominent Republicans from signing on to a similar amicus brief. And while the media tries to paint the endorsement as a sign of a broader GOP shift, even the Washington Post says the significance of their support has been taken wildly out of proportion. Of the 100 Republicans on the brief, writes the Post's Aaron Blake, "the vast majority of signers are no longer in office--or never were--and don't have to worry about their next election." Only two of the 100 supporters of this radical policy are federal officeholders.
And based on the latest polling, their colleagues won't be joining them anytime soon. While more Democrats are jumping on the same-sex "marriage" bandwagon, the GOP's base is still solidly pro-marriage. "Perhaps most striking [in the latest Pew survey]," Blake explains, "is that a clear majority of Republicans--54%--opposed gay marriage strongly. And among those describing themselves as 'conservatives,' 68% said they oppose gay marriage strongly."
Windy City Blows away Parents with Sex Ed Plan
Kindergarteners are usually worried about catching cooties--not Chlamydia--but that hasn't stopped the City of Chicago from considering a full-blown sex education curriculum for kids as young as five! The plan, presented last night at the city's Board of Education meeting, would make Chicago the first U.S. school district with a minimum number of sex ed minutes and a curriculum for every grade level.
Stephanie Whyte, Chicago's chief health officer, explained that in addition to lessons on puberty, STDs, and contraception, the program would include conversations about homosexuality, transgenderism, and bullying. A CPS spokesman said, "It is important that we provide students of all ages with accurate and appropriate information so they can make healthy choices." She's right. Information is important--from parents, in their own time and in accordance with their own values.
Whyte insists the changes stemmed out of new "national and local standards," but the truth is, this is all part of a coordinated effort to sexualize and indoctrinate children. Liberals understand that if they can break down a child's inhibitions early enough, he or she will become the next generation of either homosexual activists or Planned Parenthood clients. Look at what's happening in Massachusetts, where boys and girls can't even use sex-specific restrooms! If this were truly about minimizing risks (and not maximizing exposure to radical liberalism), Chicago would be implementing the only program that eliminates risk: abstinence. It would be my hope that this ill-conceived policy would encourage another form of abstinence: abstaining from public school education in Chicago!