Washington DC
With a growing controversy over the
future of traditional marriage spreading through out the country a
new battle front has opened. A group calling themselves the
Defenders of Traditional Marriage, has introduced bills in over a
dozen state legislatures to ban any and all divorces.
The group, who claims to represent a
return to truly traditional marital values: of women as property,
dowry driven nuptials, and marriage as a contract between a man and his
wife's father, is seeking to enforce a ban on all divorces in the
United States. DTM founder, Wayne Macabee, said in an interview with
Reuters on Wednesday “We are not a group of crazy religious
fanatics. Many in our organization even have very modern marriages
where their wives are allowed to leave the house unsupervised and
even determine for themselves whether or not they want to have sex.
We are not trying to take away any rights from anybody, we just don't think women have rights to take away. We feel
that as far the idea of marriage in concerned, it needs to remain as
it has been traditionally defined throughout the lions share of human
civilization.
The group has had a dramatic increase
in support in recent months after a rocky start. Once they released
a statement that they while they were against divorce they did
support the right of men of property to take mistresses, beat their
wives and if necessary abandon their families; conservative state
legislatures began to flock to their cause in droves.
Anti-marriage advocates retaliated
quickly stating that Mr. Macabee “supports a archaic and dying
ideology” that “has not been the ideology of any sane person
since before the reformation". These groups, such as the liberal
minded group Freedom From Stupid People, not only claim that a
literal interpretation of the Bible is not appropriate given the
allegorical history of the Hebrew tradition but even go so far to
claim that there are some people not bound by Biblical law because
they are not Christian.
Mr. Macabee for his part responded
saying “There is nothing in the Bible that is not totally in line
with a living fulfilling life provided you are a straight male who
happens to believe in it's teachings. And I think that that's a
criteria that we all can fit into.”
Macabee's group has carried out
several demonstrations over the past few weeks around the offices
of divorce attorneys local to the D.C. Area. Often standing there
harassing people trying to enter the offices. DTM protestors are
often seen carrying signs with a picture of a pair of wedding rings
and photos of happy couples from wedding ceremonies with slogans such
as: “I would have taken you even without the dowry” and “You
said till Death do us part and you're not dead yet.”
In some areas pro divorce groups like,
Americans for Second Chances and the National Bar Association have
started advertising for volunteer escorts to help shield couples
trying to seek an end to their marriage.
The actions of DTM have created some
strange bed fellows in Washington as Illinois Senator Mark Kirk(R)
and California Representative Karen Bass(D) have come together to
write a bill to simultaneously go through the house and Senate known
as the Newt Gingrich act. The Bill would effectively end the DTM's
movement by removing the specific first amendment rights of the group
and it's members. The bill is expected to pass by a narrow margin
when voted on next Tuesday.
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