Alabama Defines Marriage by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=1903

Alabama Defines Marriage

by	Dave Miller, Ph.D.

By a whopping 81%, the people of the state of Alabama have joined the ranks of 19 other states in voting overwhelmingly to define marriage biblically, i.e., one man for one woman. Only Mississippi exceeds Alabama in the percentage of voters (86%) that passed the amendment (Wetzstein, 2006). Other states that have already passed a state constitutional amendment have done so with an average of 71 percent of the vote. These states include Alaska and Hawaii (in 1998), Nebraska (in 2000), Nevada (in 2002), Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah (all in 2004), Kansas and Texas (in 2005). States that are scheduled to vote on state constitutional marriage amendments in November are Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin (Garris, 2006).

The country is in a literal life/death struggle over whether the moral principles of Christianity will continue to characterize American civilization. The outcome of this struggle will determine national survival (Jeremiah 18:7-10; Daniel 4:17). Christians must “fight the good fight” (1 Timothy 6:12), “wage the good warfare” (1 Timothy 1:18), and “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3).

REFERENCES

Garris, Carolyn (2006), “Marriage in the 50 States,” The Heritage Foundation, [On-line], URL: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/ Marriage50/Marriage50States.cfm.

Wetzstein, Cheryl (2006), “Alabama OKs Marriage Measure,” The Washington Times, June 8, [On-line], URL: http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060607-104125-7876r.htm.