If you click through to the organization’s heroes, you will find that retired Presbyterian minister Jane Spahr tops the list. Freedom to Marry’s Heroes span the religious, entertainment, business, government, media and social justice sectors. All varieties of cultural influencers are being mobilized to change the way Americans think about the critical moral issue of marriage.

On Nov. 6, everyone in America was paying attention to one race, that for the White House. But there were other matters before American citizens, which have significant bearing on our common life and cultural moral standards. Namely, ballot measures in a handful of states seeking to legalize the sale of marijuana for recreational use and the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Since the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973, Americans have grown increasingly comfortable bifurcating their moral concerns with that which they view as legally acceptable. So, although a majority of Americans oppose abortion on moral grounds, it remains legal.

On Tuesday when voters in Colorado and Washington approved the legalization of the sale of marijuana for recreational use, America took another step down the path of moral relativism. Voters in Washington also joined those in Maine and Maryland legalizing gay marriage.

Maine became the first state to approve the same-sex marriage through a ballot measure. The state of Maine will begin issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples in mid-December.

The effort was well organized and well funded. According to reports from Mainers United for Marriage, a coalition of groups that led the campaign over 18 months, “Volunteers and organizers in the state made more than one million telephone calls, knocked on nearly 300,000 doors, and had 275,000 one-on-one conversations with voters about why marriage matters to same-sex couples.” That’s an intensive and prolonged campaign.

And it wasn’t cheap. Proponents spent more than $2.65 million dollars to re-educate the residents of Maine on the issue. Half of that funding came from a nationwide organization called Freedom to Marry.

Freedom to Marry has a “Roadmap to victory” designed to redefine marriage nationwide. No comparably well-funded, well-organized, concerted, focused and sustained effort currently exists to build roadblocks against this nationwide campaign.

Strategic markers on their roadmap include:

• “Win more states” by redefining the legal definition of marriage
• “Grow the majority for marriage” through redefinition in the culture at large
• “End Federal Marriage Discrimination” by striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

Change the law state by state

In just this one election cycle, Freedom to Marry activists were successful in convincing American voters to redefine marriage in three states: Maine, Maryland and Washington.

There was also a measure to endorse the monogamous heterosexual definition of marriage in Minnesota. Freedom to Marry is celebrating the defeat of that effort.

The roadmap includes a state-by-state plan that targets population-dense states first in an effort to accelerate the likelihood that DOMA will be struck down nationwide.

Grow cultural acceptance

If you click through to the organization’s heroes, you will find that retired Presbyterian minister Jane Spahr tops the list. Freedom to Marry’s Heroes span the religious, entertainment, business, government, media and social justice sectors. All varieties of cultural influencers are being mobilized to change the way Americans think about the critical moral issue of marriage.

And the pro-LGBT lobby has demonstrated significant traction in the post-modern American mind as evidenced by Pew and other recent polls.

Striking down DOMA

The third strategic point in the plan to redefine marriage is striking down DOMA.

The Freedom to Marry web site reads, “To end federal marriage discrimination, we must overturn the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and return the federal government to its longstanding practice of honoring marriages celebrated in the states — without a ‘gay exception.’ Freedom to Marry is tackling that work by spearheading a sustained and focused campaign to end federal marriage discrimination. Freedom to Marry’s Federal Program educates and enlists Beltway decision-makers, elected officials and influencers to make the case for the freedom to marry, while building support for the Respect for Marriage Act that would overturn DOMA.”

Their strategic federal plan specifically targets the Supreme Court, the White House, the President and the members of Congress.

In relationship to the White House and the President, Freedom to Marry set and achieved three goals:

1. “To persuade the Obama Administration to apply heightened scrutiny to sexual orientation discrimination and to stop defending DOMA in court, because it is unconstitutional. (Goal Met 2/23/11)

2. “To encourage the President to endorse the Respect for Marriage Act. (Goal Met 7/19/11)

3. “To help the President complete his journey and join the majority of Americans in supporting the freedom to marry. (Goal Met 5/9/12)

Their web site celebrates that “Through public encouragement, grassroots advocacy and lobbying, we have succeeded in all three objectives.”

Laying out the progress toward the goal, the site chronicles that, “In a statement by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, President Obama endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act on July 19, 2011. The Obama Administration instructed the Department of Justice to stop defending DOMA in court in February 2011 and called for heightened scrutiny – a presumption that sexual orientation discrimination is unconstitutional, rather than okay – in federal lawsuits.”

“On our third objective, Freedom to Marry worked hard to encourage President Obama to complete his journey and join the majority of Americans in favor of the freedom to marry. In March 2011, Freedom to Marry launched its Say,“I Do” campaign with an Open Letter signed by civil rights leaders, tech entrepreneurs, pro athletes and Hollywood celebrities signed by more than 120,000 Americans. On May 9, 2012, President Obama became the first sitting president to public announce his support for the freedom to marry.”

The changing of the American mind – and with it the changing of the American moral landscape – is being achieved through highly financed, well organized, LGBT activists who have long-term goals, a strategic plan and a tireless pursuit of their ends. To date, no complementary organized effort among those who believe in the traditional definition of marriage has arisen. The predictable result is that Freedom to Marry will march unfettered down the road to victory they have paved for America’s moral self-destruction.

Some are seeking to hold the line. Juxtapose the efforts of the Freedom to Marry with that of The Manhattan Declaration which has garnered a half million signatures of those committed to the sanctity of life, the dignity of one man/one woman marriage and the preservation of religious freedom in America.

Or read Maggie Gallagher’s “What marriage is for” to be equipped to defend the position that marriage is designed, instituted, blessed and sustained by God as between one man and one woman, for life.

Call and write your congressmen. Pray for all those in elected positions of leadership. Give generously to those who are working to uphold and advance the Biblical worldview in a culture growing increasingly cold to the idea of moral absolutes. We know from the Scriptures and from history that nations rise and fall. The moral decay evidenced by these voting trends in America points in only one direction.

Carmen Fowler LaBerge is president of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and executive editor of its publications. This blog post first appeared on The Layman website and is used with permission. 

[Editor’s note: Some of the original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid, so the links have been removed.]