The PBS Web site cites a new survey indicating that 52 percent of Americans would favor a law that prohibits same-sex marriage. A recent Washington Post poll found that fewer than four in 10 Americans support same-sex civil unions that would provide some of the rights and legal protections of marriage. Legislatures in 37 states have adopted so-called "defense of marriage" acts, which define marriage as a contract between a man and a woman.

Yet two Canadian provinces have now made same-sex marriages legal. And the highest court in Massachusetts has likewise ruled them legal.

PBS commentator Jeff Sheler refers to these cases as "a changing of the guard, a social shift of historic proportions in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and British Columbia where, earlier this year, laws were enacted legalizing same-sex marriage." He commented that "the controversial change has sent shock waves through legal and religious communities on both sides of the border."

Reactions to the issue of same-sex marriage serve as a barometer of how or whether the Bible is acknowledged and used as a basis of morality. In many cases human reason trumps the fundamental teachings of the Bible. Bible passages are either misinterpreted or dismissed by those who advocate a personal agenda that conflicts with the plain teachings of Scripture.

Liberal theologians conveniently dismiss the inerrant authority of the Scriptures and consider many historical events, including the creation account of Genesis 1, as myth. Some claim that the human authors of the Bible were ignorant of the dynamics of homosexuality and the capacity for people to love someone of the same sex and to make a commitment of marriage.

In their minds civil rights take precedent over civil responsibility. Even some conservative Christians share that viewpoint, citing passages in Romans 13 that urge Christians to submit to civil authority.

One homosexual, who claims to be a devout Episcopalian, boldly stated: "Family has been redefined. We no longer have, for various reasons, mother, father, two children. It can be now mother and two children, father two children. It can be lesbians, one child, two child[ren]. It can be gay men."

Herein lies the greatest concern. Same-sex marriage is not just about two people seeking permission and approval to make a legal commitment of marriage. It is about redefining long-standing, biblically based, fundamental aspects of our culture. It is the opening salvo on a moral battlefront with grave stakes to modern civilization as we have known it.

How deeply motivated are Christians to nip this in the bud? The apostle Peter wrote that "God rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man who was sick of all the immorality and wickedness around him" (2 Peter 2:7, New Living Translation).

Although God refers to him as righteous, in the eyes of many Lot would be labeled as "homophobic." Such mislabeling is another tactic to turn the tables on opponents of same-sex marriage and homosexuality. The prophet Isaiah decries this tactic: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20).

Viewpoints on same-sex marriage reflect a growing trend of emphasizing rights over responsibility. One young homosexual protested in a TV interview, "This is the 21st century; we should be able to do whatever we want to do!" In his mind this is freedom and exercising his civil rights. in reality, this mindset is a recipe for anarchy.

Some seem to forget that citizenship is not just about their own personal freedoms. It also includes rights and freedoms of others. The laws of the Bible define true freedom and form the basis of the civil governments of the United States and other Western nations. Redefining and rejecting the laws of God and man puts us on a course that threatens the freedoms that we presently enjoy and take for granted.

Jesus emphasized that "from the beginning of creation God made [us] male and female" (Mark 10:6). (Apparently He didn't consider Genesis 1 as a myth.)

That same Jesus promises to "restore all things" in His coming kingdom (Acts 3:20-21). In the meantime mankind has some bitter lessons to learn about one of the most fundamental truths of the Bible that forms the moral basis of civilization—marriage and the family.