Wreckage of Marriage and Religious Freedom

We came across a book by Ryan Anderson, Truth Overuled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom, in which the author explores the “wreckage” that comes from the eroding respect for traditional marriage between one man and one woman. Even though our liberal-majority Supreme Court has installed same-sex marriage as law in America, his book gives both fear and hope. Fear from the the activists for same-sex marriage who, the author reveals, want not to bring the blessings of marriage to more people, but to wean people away from their moral misgivings about the homosexual lifestyle.

Hope, he argues, comes the testimonials of those who were raised by gay or lesbian parents who mourn for the fathers and mothers who gave them life, absences not caused by death, but by the absence of that parent of the other sex. Men raised by men missing the “distinctly feminine” expression of a mother’s love. Or if raised by only women, what is “distinctly wholesome of a man tussling with his son on the floor, but teaching him self control, not to play rough.”

He takes up the argument “what is marriage?” and points out that there is no mention of marriage in the U.S. Constitution, and therefore no grounds on which to declare the “constitutional” right of same-sex marriage. Then he notes that there was no mention of marriage in the U.S. Constitution when the Court struck down the laws barring interracial marriage. He argues that if conservative judges can be “jolted” out of their doctrinal slumber, they will have to ask the “substantive question” of what marriage is.

The book provides the text to build that argument if public opinion and outrage against the recent decision forces it back into the Court.

“We live at a privileged moment: a time for what Bonhoeffer called costly grace; a time for Christians to bear witness to the truth in the public square. Ryan Anderson has been doing this courageously for several years now. His new book, Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom, is vital reading for anyone seeking to defend the goodness that remains in our nation, and our rights to live in accord with the truth.” —Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia

In defense of marriage, we invite our readers to explore more reviews of this book on Amazon.