(AgapePress) - From Rosie O'Donnell to spokespersons from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance, gay marriage proponents are quick to tell us that opposition to gay marriage is not only "hateful" but an infringement of homosexuals' civil rights. With each passing day, we hear more and more inflammatory remarks from activists who are hell-bent on changing forever the definition of traditional marriage as we know it.

The topic of "gay marriage" has riddled the headlines of local papers and occupied the nation's social consciousness over the last five weeks. However, one line of thinking has not be adequately debated: what would America be like if gay marriage would be legally validated? Three prominent California advocates for traditional marriage have recently provided their thoughts on that prospect.

Paul McGuire, a conservative radio talk-show host for Crawford Broadcasting Corp., speaks to a large syndicated audience every weekday afternoon from his studio in Los Angeles. McGuire believes that if gay marriage is adopted, "5,000 years of civilization will be affected." He realistically predicts that there will not only be a social chaos from such a trend, but legal validation will also result in "a moral anarchy" in our social climate.

McGuire believes a future including gay marriage usurps the traditional components of a union between a husband and a wife. "Social studies confirm that children do best when you have [both] a mom and a dad," the radio host says, adding that "psychological fallout will result" when society confuses its inhabitants by changing a social order (traditional marriage) that has been the cornerstone for every major civilization since the beginning of man.

McGuire is convinced that many citizens who have recently decided to support gay marriage "have not thought things through to the logical conclusion." He sees a society "where there is no need to have any committed relationships" and where homosexual activists will "corrupt heterosexual [marriage] in an effort to make homosexual relationships legitimate."

On a recent show, McGuire alluded to an article from World magazine that chronicles 10+ years of social history in several Scandinavian countries where homosexual marriage was first introduced. With heterosexual marriage being socially de-emphasized in Scandinavia in the early 1990s, traditional marriage was gradually replaced by live-in relationships. Sociologists found that parents in those countries became less committed to their partners and to their children. If this happens in America, McGuire sees "a society where the state raises the children ... [and marriage is replaced] by a series of sexual relationships." He refers to this as "sexual anarchy."

Randy Thomasson is the executive director for Campaign for California Families, one of the few political action groups that is legally resisting gay marriage in Sacramento. If homosexual marriage is validated, Thomasson sees a future "where children as young as kindergarten are taught that two men in bed is normal."

With the Democratically controlled legislature in his state already enacting laws that actively seek to enforce hate crimes (as liberals define them), Thomasson is concerned that "churches will be forced to marry homosexual couples." Resistance from pastors could result in lawsuits, criminal charges, and hate crime prosecution. Thomasson can see a future where churches "will lose their religious freedom ... and their tax-free status" if pastors take a stand and refuse to marry homosexual couples.

Gary Cass is pastor of West Hills Christian Fellowship in El Cajon, California, and a trustee of the Grossmont School District. Cass is convinced that gay marriage will lead to "trivializing" traditional marriage and will undermine society as a result. "As we have already seen in Europe, people are now embarrassed to be called married," the pastor observes. And while there are exceptions, he notes that in Europe there is "an apostate Christian Church and a secularized immoral government." Without God, Cass says, "there is no objective moral standards that are above the feelings of law makers."

Arguments for still other types of fallout have been made if gay marriage is validated in America. Already we see polygamist groups in Utah taking legal action to validate those types of marriage. Further we have seen in England and other European states successful legal efforts to lower the age of consent. Some groups in the Netherlands have even caused rights of adults to form sexual unions in marriage to children.

Once an institution that has survived thousands of years of civilization has been broken, every type of lifestyle will seek to be confirmed no matter how bizarre its consequences. Perhaps this is why homosexual activists have now so deeply identified themselves with their support for transgender causes.

McGuire, Thomasson, and Cass -- all staunch defenders of traditional marriage -- believe it is imperative for Christians to actively defend the institution that is the backbone for civilization itself. We need to communicate our convictions to our friends, to our pastors, and to our political leaders in Washington and our state houses. If we don't, society as we know it may no longer exist. What type of legacy ... what type of future does this leave for the children we love?

James L. Lambert

(agapepress.org)