Time for a Real Defense of DOMA

Chuck Donovan / February 23, 2011

President Obama and his Justice Department have decided to leave the legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act to others—and, as embarrassing as this decision in the midst of intense litigation may be to the Administration – it is probably a good thing for the institution. This is no time leave marriage to the mercy of the kind of half-hearted defense Eric Holder’s Justice Department was offering it.

Marriage is the cornerstone in an archway of values that form the constitution of the family and the foundation of civil society. To its advocates as an institution with a pre-political meaning, it is not an entity created by the state but rather one recognized by the state. It is not about one family, but the coming together of two families, whose role in begetting and bearing children make them not merely part of a community but the creators of community. The community they create is not time-bound, but existing across generations. For the sake of its history and its future, authors write books about roots and Web sites offer tools to research genealogies. (more…)