WND

AMERICA CLEAR: MARRIAGE '1 MAN AND 1 WOMAN'

Poll also finds 81% say people should be allowed to live by their beliefs

Bob Unruh

The case of Washington state florist Barronelle Stutzman made headlines recently when a judge’s assessment of fines and fees threatened to financially ruin her because she wouldn’t endorse same-sex “marriage” with her talents.

Similar accusations have been made against a Colorado baker, a New Mexico florist and others.

But aren’t they, after all, out of step with the growing acceptance of a new definition of marriage?

Not according to a new poll by WPA Opinion Research for Family Research Council and a coalition of like organizations.

It found 61 percent of Americans saying “states and citizens should remain free to uphold marriage as the union of a man and a woman, and the Supreme Court should not force all 50 states to redefine marriage.”

The poll also found 53 percent of Americans agree that marriage should be defined only as the union of one man and one woman.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the survey “tells us that the American people will not accept marriage redefinition by judicial fiat.”

“Americans have not reached a ‘broad social consensus’ on the redefinition of marriage,” he said. “Until and unless they do, judges should not impose on them something that will only cause deep social division.”

“We continue to hear the narrative of those seeking to redefine our most basic social institution that 37 states have same-sex ‘marriage,’” he said. “However, the WPA survey’s strong majority continues to reflect the fact that 30 states have upheld natural marriage at the ballot box compared to only three states that have voted to redefine marriage.”

Perkins pointed to recent history “to see what happens when the court preempts broad social consensus, as it did four decades ago when the Supreme Court imposed abortion on demand on all 50 states, declaring the issue ‘resolved.’”

“The Supreme Court failed to silence the debate over abortion then, and the court will fail again now should it redefine marriage, an issue which could prove even more contentious,” he said.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments soon on the fundamental question of whether federal judges can force states to adopt their social views. A decision on whether “gay marriage” will be imposed nationwide is expected this summer.

One key battleground is Alabama, where state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has insisted a lone federal judge does not have the constitutional authority to order the state to change its constitution.

Moore told state judges to follow their state constitution, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Perkins said the marriage debate “will only intensify as the American people realize they will be required to surrender their fundamental right to live their lives according to their beliefs.”

“The evidence will mount as families are driven from their businesses and even homes as the result of crippling government imposed fines designed to force them to deny their faith,” Perkins said.

“Cultural elites may succeed in convincing judges to strip away the livelihoods of people like Aaron and Melissa Klein, Jack Phillips, Barronelle Stutzman, and others, but the elites face a losing battle in the court of public opinion,” he said.

He pointed out that the FRC poll found 81 percent of the American people “stand with those who want to live freely in accordance with their moral beliefs, and not with a government threatening to fine and punish them.”

The poll surveyed 800 registered voters who were contacted Feb. 2-4. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

It found that even 30 percent of those who said they never attend church say marriage is only the union of one man and one woman.

Hispanics, by a 9-1 ratio, said people should be left alone by the government regarding their beliefs about marriage.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/america-clear-marriage-1-man-and-1-woman/#HZixXaaW5ipFt3KX.99