Same-sex marriage and related claims, such as adoption of children, are fast becoming flavour of the month among western politicians. Irish pollies are among the latest, so the family-oriented Iona Institute has prepared an excellent, short, briefing paper on the subject.

Iona's director, David Quinn, introduces the brief, noting that "even people who are instinctively uneasy about the matter ask themselves, 'what harm would it do?'" He continues:

This is to imply that unless a change to the institution of marriage directly harms yourmarriage, there is nothing to worry about. Of course, it could equally be asked what direct harm it would do your marriage if your Muslim neighbour (say) could have more than one wife?

But the harm it would do is to the institution of marriage itself and to its chief purpose which is to commit men and women to one another and to their children. Permitting same-sex marriage would say this is no longer the purpose of marriage at all.

The purpose would be transformed into something else, namely recognising adult sexual love first and foremost (of whatever kind). Sexual complementarity and the children only it can produce would no longer be seen as in any way connected to the core purpose of marriage.

In other words, we would no longer have any institution that aims to bind (insofar as this is possible) mothers and fathers to their children. Redefining marriage would be a declaration that this is no longer a goal of either  marriage or of society.

This is the harm same-sex marriage will do; it will utterly transform the most pro-child of all social institutions into something else.

The Iona Institute has prepared this very short, easily digestible briefing note on the subject. We urge you to read it and share it. Unless we take the attempt to redefine marriage seriously enough and know how to argue against it, the battle will be lost before it begins.

I recommend following this advice.