Statement of Fact

In signing NOM's marriage pledge, Mitt Romney, Michelle Bachman and Rick Santorum pledged to:

  • Support and send to the states a federal marriage amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman,
  • Defend DOMA in court,
  • Appoint judges and an attorney general who will respect the original meaning of the Constitution,
  • Appoint a presidential commission to investigate harassment of traditional marriage supporters,
  • Support legislation that would return to the people of D.C. their right to vote for marriage.
Source



Analysis and Position

Like it or not this country was founded on religious principles. We claim inalienable rights given to us by our Creator. Then we secured the Blessings of liberty by forming a limited government to protect those rights.

Legal marriage isn't a right; it is a privilege recognized by State governments through the licensing process because it is extremely helpful to society. Stable marriages produce fine children who form the next generation of leaders, therefore it stabilizes society. It's the same reason why we license doctors, plumbers, engineers and lawyers. If you are deemed qualified for a license then the state grants you the privilege.

Homosexual relationships are inherently as well as statistically less stable and they can't naturally produce children. Some argue that licensing would add to the stability of these relationships and I recognize that. However marriage, unlike the professions, also has a religious component, so it doesn't make sense to defy the very basis of our national claim, that of inalienable rights, if we are at the same time defying our Creator.

A reasonable and rational solution would be for States to provide a licensing venue for monogamous homosexual relationships, with the same privileges, but a different term, then the word "marriage".

Adherence to the NOM pledge does nothing to prevent this. It merely provides a uniform standard for the definition of traditional marriage, thereby recognizing its importance to a stable society.