OK to Civil Unions “sad day” for New Zealand, Family Life International says

Wellington, New Zealand, Dec 9, 2004 / 22:00 pm

On the passing of the Civil Union Bill into law today in New Zealand, Family Life International, New Zealand called it a “sad day” for the country and stated that the Parliamentary decision “makes an absolute mockery of due democratic process and will have many negative implications for future generations.”

“Because of the drastic changes that this law will bring about,” reads the statement, “those who proposed this legislation had the obligation to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it will not be detrimental to traditional marriage, the foundational relationship of all healthy and thriving societies.”

“Instead of satisfying this obligation the supporters of this legislation set about a campaign of miscommunication in regards to the actual design and implications of this Bill, by falsely claiming that it would grant legal rights that it simply does not grant,” it continues.

The statement says that the Select Committee ignored or dismissed the thousands of submissions opposing the law as either homophobic or plagiarized copies of previous submissions. By doing so the committee “displayed nothing but totalitarian contempt for proper democratic process and the people of this country who made a conscientious effort to have their voice heard.”

Family Life says that the accusations of “bigoted fundamentalist Christian” leveled at opponents of the bill by many Members of Parliament were “nothing more then a vitriolic smokescreen that has been used to avoid answering important questions and to ignore genuine concerns about Civil Union legislation.”

“There will be four victims in the wake of the new Civil Union law,” states Family Life:

1) Homosexual people wishing to extract themselves from the gay lifestyle.

2) Traditional marriage: This law devalues the foundational relationship of any healthy and socially prosperous society by setting up a counterfeit version of marriage which studies have shown to last an average of 2 years.

3) Future generations of New Zealanders, many of whom will without doubt find themselves the children of homosexual parents.

4) New Zealand society: All of the once great societies who have long since passed away have the erosion and blurring of the traditional family as one of the major reasons for their downfall.”

The statement concludes with a call to all New Zealanders concerned about traditional and moral values to use their vote at the next General Election to support politicians with similar concern “ahead of morally, democratically and socially bankrupt minority agendas.”

See Family Life International’s website at www.fli.org.nz