BRITNEY, FRC & MARRIAGE
I was chagrined last week when I went to one of my favorite websites to find Deroy Murdock chastising the Family Research Council (FRC) by saying we, and other pro-family organizations, are without merit on the threat of homosexual “marriage” because we ignore other threats to the breakdown of the family. Well Mr. Murdock is wrong on both counts, as a little research would have shown him.
On the very day that Mr. Murdock was pushing his agenda and painting FRC as uncaring towards the image heterosexual celebrities give marriage, an FRC radio commentary was airing on over 300 radio stations around the nation, addressing Britney Spears’s Las Vegas fiasco.
The institution of marriage (between a man and a woman) has been the bedrock of civilizations and religions for thousands of years, and during all that time both civilians and governments have recognized it is the most necessary arrangement for the creation and protection of children.
As for the argument that since heterosexuals are “ruining” marriage we might as well throw out the whole institution and let any combination of people get married, might I suggest Mr. Murdock read the fine piece by his colleague, John Derbyshire, called “Britney’s Wedding: Oh the Humanity!,” which appeared on NRO the same day as Murdock’s. I think it addresses Mr. Murdock’s arguments rather nicely.
Tony Perkins
President, Family Research Council
Washington, D.C.
DEROY MURDOCK RESPONDS: Mr. Perkins’s radio commentary appeared after my piece was written and published, so an Internet search as I was writing it would not have turned it up. All I found from FRC on Spears while researching the piece was an old reference to her music–nothing about the marriage stunt. I also checked FRC’s website for reactions to either Jerry Seinfeld or David Letterman and found nothing about their hetero-shenanigans. Mr. Derbyshire’s piece also was published after my piece was written.
I have now read Perkins’s response to Spears’s fiasco and appreciate the fact that he got around to criticizing it. He did so in exactly the right tone. As for Mr. Derbyshire, while he correctly ridiculed Spears as the idiot that she is, I do not think he chided her as someone who assaulted marriage. In fact, as I interpreted his essay, Derbyshire dismissed the idea that Spears’s behavior should be taken seriously.