marriage, society, and my friend Chris

My friend Chris, a conservative law school student, was at a conference for the political and legal protection of traditional marriages. It is a pretty famous group that supports the Christian conception of marriage. At this particular conference the main issue was gay marriage and how to legally defeat it in the several states.

At one point there was a Q and A session where attendees could ask questions and make comments to the presenters. My friend Chris is a lot of things, one of them is not shy. He is what you call "confrontational" and also "fearless" and "thoroughly Catholic."

So at this conference filled with mostly Christians and other social conservatives of every stripe, he takes to the microphone and addresses one of the speakers who criticized gay marriage as the "undoing of the meaning of marriage in society".

He said: "Marriage is not just about a union between a man and a woman. It is that, but it is also about the procreation and education of children. That's the 'meaning' of marriage: babies and bonding with your spouse. I think, if we are going to be honest, we have to see that use of contraception within marriage was really the 'undoing' of marriages, because it separated babies from the sexual act altogether. No-fault divorce, remarriage, and all the rest are results from the widespread acceptance of contraception in marriage."

The place was silent.

The speaker responds, "But I think you are in the minority here. Most Christians see nothing wrong with the moderate use of contraception in their marital relationships."

"Exactly. That is the problem" responded my friend Chris. "The Anglicans in the early 30's were the first to legitimize the use of contraception for Christians, then it spread to the other denominations from there, save that of the Catholic Church."

"Oh I see! So it's all the Anglicans fault, huh?"

Realizing the conversation was now pure emotion, and not to be thwarted from some good, ol' fashioned confrontation, Chris continued:

"Yeah. That's sort of what I'm saying. The divorce of procreation from sex through the barriers and chemicals of contraception destroyed marriage. Soon no-fault divorce folllowed. Abortion was justified using the same legal language - the right to privacy - as was contraception. Once babies have nothing to do with marriage, one can see gay coupling and sterilized, contracepted marriages as being of little to no real difference."

The conversation ended there.

I love my friend.

Once, while in the Airforce, he yelled at his CO. It was the stuff of legends.