Bishop Harry Jackson has argued that
gay marriage will kill the family, media watchdog RightWingWatch.com
reported.
Jackson, a minister at the Hope
Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, came to prominence fighting
against the District of Columbia's gay marriage law and last year's
effort to pass a similar law in Maryland.
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is
expected to introduce a gay marriage bill when lawmakers reconvene
later this month.
(Related: Martin
O'Malley stars in first video to legalize gay marriage in Maryland.)
In an op-ed published Tuesday at
TownHall.com,
titled The Marriage Meltdown, Jackson argued that the
trivialization of marriage by celebrities such as Kim Kardashian is
another reason to oppose marriage equality.
“For every high-profile celebrity
wedding that makes headlines, it seems we are treated to at least two
high-profile celebrity divorces. I am praying for people like Kim
Kardashian whose marriage problems seem to suggest that there should
be a public exam for marriage prior to the issuance of a license.
Unfortunately, celebrities are not the only folks whose marriages are
caving in under the cultural pressures of our generation,” Jackson
wrote.
“The enfeebled state of marriage
today is all the more reason to fight to preserve it and hopefully to
restore it to its former strength.”
“In the few states where marriage has
been redefined to include same-sex couples, various churches and
ministries have already been threatened with the loss of their tax
exempt status if they refused to perform ceremonies for same sex
couples.”
“Lastly, we are fools if we think
that redefining marriage to include homosexual couples is the end of
the story. To the contrary, it is only the beginning. Groups
advocating polygamy and polyamory have their arguments prepared and
will begin advocating for the definition of marriage to be relaxed
further to accommodate their preferences. Children may then be born
to and even adopted by any number of ''families' with any number of
mothers and fathers, sleeping with whomever they [wish] depending in
their whims.”
“Redefining marriage will be the
beginning of the end of the family as we know it,” he added.