Traditional marriage needs help too

To the editor:

I wonder how many people read the article in Monday's paper about protecting marriage ("Distracting watchword").

With all the uproar over same-sex marriage, it points out that what is missing from much of the debate is the broader issue of protecting marriage as a whole. It seems rather sanctimonious to decry the evils of gay marriage when traditional marriage between heterosexuals is not what it used to be.

I don't often agree with the conservative right's agenda, but I was glad to read that some are calling for their side to do "a little soul-searching and look for ways to rebuild traditional marriage into something stronger."

The article cites cohabitation, casual divorce and infidelity as examples of how the institution has eroded over the years, while "countless gay and lesbian couples who, if they had legal recognition, would hold up their relations as models of good marriage."

It never ceases to amaze me how people find justification in the Bible either for or against a particular issue, depending on which side they're on.

Regarding this discussion, we would do well to remember the part about removing the plank from our own eye before worrying about the speck in another's, or letting he who is without sin cast the first stone. A bad marriage is a bad marriage, period.

I heard the Rev. Billy Graham say he was a lifelong Democrat. So much for the Republicans' claim on moral values, unless you can stand toe-to-toe with the good reverend.

JEFF JERNIGAN, Cape Girardeau