Coach Dungy: Champion of the family

This week, the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, appearing at a pro-traditional family meeting in Indiana, said he supports state legislation defining marriage as the union solely between one man and one woman.

Speaking at the Indiana Family Institute, where he received a "Friend of Family" award, Coach Dungy said he embraces the stance of the organization, which works to protect traditional marriage.

"We're not trying to downgrade anyone else," he stated. "But we're trying to promote the family – family values the Lord's way."

Not surprisingly, his comments have drawn criticism from homosexual-rights organizations that are pressing for "marriage" rights.

Conversely, I'm very pleased to see a respected man like Tony Dungy speak from his heart on this critical matter. While the public is used to seeing an old junkyard dog like me weigh in on the same-sex marriage debate, it's constructive to have this thoughtful man express his opinion on the issue.

The fact is most Americans believe that traditional marriage should be protected from out-of-control (and unelected) judges who want to alter marriage so that it conforms to ever-changing social whims. The so-called mainstream media also commonly favor same-sex marriage, typically defining efforts to protect traditional marriage as "anti-gay" endeavors.

But the majority of Americans continue to support traditional marriage.

I have been calling for a federal marriage amendment for some time, so that the issue is permanently taken away from the courts, which have frequently ignored the will of the people on this key issue.

"America does have a stake in preserving marriage and the natural family (one man, one woman and children) as the bedrock of society," says Gary Bauer, chairman of the Campaign for Working Families. "If passing a federal marriage amendment is the only way to stop tyrannical judges from forcing Americans to recognize gay 'marriages' as the real thing, then our citizens need to roll up their sleeves and get the job done. That's not discrimination. It's common sense."

That's the bottom line in this debate.

Traditional man-woman marriage has indeed served as a groundwork element of civilization – and there is no telling where America would end up socially if we were to suddenly legalize same-sex marriage. Legalized bigamy and polygamy would almost surely follow. And while the left will scoff at such notions, I believe this slippery slope would ultimately bring our nation to the point of creating the "right" of family members to marry and the "right" of adults to marry children.

The term family will come to be virtually meaningless under this scenario. And the nation would parallel an earlier time in history (about 1050 B.C.) when the book of Judges tells us: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (21:25).

That verse also pretty well describes the modern "diversity" movement wherein all mindsets (except, of course, for Christianity) are to be treated as equal so that there are no absolutes and nobody is ever offended.

It truly behooves us to continue our diligence in the effort to preserve traditional marriage.

I believe Christians must hold another biblical reference in our hearts as we work to protect the Judeo-Christian values that are at the foundation of our nation: "If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (II Chronicles 7:14)

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