Even my outline is crap! I have no idea where to go with this. Why couldnt I have been blessed with something easy....like euthanasia or capitol punishment. Bah.
I. Introduction
"In God We Trust". --- Four words strung together to make one of the most well known phrases in American culture. Coined, pardon the pun, during the civil war these words were put on our currency to acknowledge our nation's overwhelming religious sentiment during a time of desperation. This is just one of many instances where religion has proved to be the backbone of our country. I submit that despite the fact that our constitution calls for separation of church and state, we are a nation who will forever be guided by religion. It is my belief that preserving the sanctity of marriage, protecting the traditional family, and providing a healthy world for our children is a duty placed on us by our forefathers, the society in which we live, and by God.
II. Marriage, by both religious and legal definition, is the union of one free man and one free woman.
A. “Let every man have his own wife, and every woman have her own husband.” States 1 Corinthians 7:2
B. “Marriage – A contract made in due form of law, by which a free man and a free woman reciprocally engage to live with each other during their joint lives, in the union which ought to exist between husband and wife.” - ELL
C. By allowing marriages that stray from the traditional guidelines we are undermining the word of God and also the word of the law. Therefore, obliterating the sanctity of marriage.
III. Same sex marriages will speed up the collapse of the traditional family unit.
A. The increase in non-traditional families appear to have a direct correlation to the rise in crime, suicide, and chemical dependency rates among adolescents.
1. 75% of children/adolescents in chemical dependency hospitals are from single-parent families. (Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA)
2. 63% of suicides are individuals from single parent families (FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin - Investigative Aid)
3. 81% of gang members in California come from interracial families. (FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin - Investigative Aid)
B. Legalizing same sex marriages will embrace the idea of non-traditional families, which will eventually lead to an alarming increase of disastrous behavior.
IV. Extreme liberals convey Same Sex Marriage as a social issue, when in fact it is a ploy targeting economic gain.
A.