Austin Springer
Heather Surface
Writing Seminar
Synthesis Paper
16 October 2013
Gay Marriage Synthesis Paper
What comes to mind when you think of a traditional marriage? A man and woman, or possibly two people of the same sex? Nowadays, we see a countless number of the same sex marriages all across the world each day. Growing up, I was always taught to welcome everyone into my life, to accept him or her for their religion, race, ethics, morals, or even sexuality. Despite the way I was raised, I still have many traditional values when it comes to marriage and raising a family. Christianity Today is very well know global media source that comes out with a variety of articles on many different topics. Christianity today believes, throughout history a traditional marriage has been defined as “a moral and legal bond between a man and a woman” (“Why”). Many people think that same sex marriage is a good thing. Legalizing same sex marriage will give everyone equal rights and freedoms. Some may even argue that the adoption rates will increase due to the inability for same sex couples to have their own children. Although there are good aspects to same sex marriage, I strongly believe that same sex marriage is an overall bad concept to bring into society. Same sex marriage has many negative consequences, such as an unstable household for children, creates problem for children when adopted, discrimination of these homosexual couples, and the true meaning of a traditional marriage. One of my main reasons is that raising children in a same sex marriage household will create an unstable, nontraditional environment. A mother and a father bring different qualities into raising their child. A mother nurtures her child and teaches it to grow up in a caring, loving, and emotional way. A father on the other hand, brings toughness, respect, and discipline into the child’s life. A child being raised by a same sex couple is not gaining all the assets, as a heterosexual couple would raise them. Peter Sprigg’s a senior fellow for policy studies at the Family Research Council, writes in his article, “if two males raise a child, this child will grow up knowing only toughness and discipline and won’t have any concepts of what an emotional environment is like” (Sprigg para. 21). Sprigg then goes on to say, “if the child is raised by two females, the child has too much of a loving, emotional environment and may not be able to stick up for themselves as they grow up”(Sprigg para. 24). Being raised by a same sex couple creates troublesome relationships for a child throughout their entire life. Although some people may agree that gay marriages are beneficial from an adoption standpoint, this causes more problems when the adoption is occurring through same sex couples. A same sex couple adopts a child because they are unable to biologically have children of their own. An adopted child already has no father or mother figure. David Blackenhorn author of Fatherless America and The Future of Marriage, writes, “No same sex couple, married or not, can ever under any circumstances combine biological, social, and legal parenthood into one bond” (Blankenhorn). When the adopted child grows up, they will not understand the true meaning of having a mother and a father raising them. They already come from an unstable life and being raised in a gay household causes the child and parents’ relationships to become even unsteady. The opposing side says, “Homosexual activists say that having both a mother and a father simply does not matter, it is having two loving parents that counts. Social science research simply does not support this claim” (Sprigg). Many argue that it is not right for a child to grow up with out with out a father or mother. Sprigg also writes that “Among homosexual couples, as identified in the 2000 census, 34% of lesbian couples have children living at home, while only 22% of male couples were raising children”. This non-traditional environment of
