AFRICAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY comment on Civil Union Bill

AFRICAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY
REV KRJ MESHOE
14 NOVEMBER 2006

CIVIL UNION BILL

In the National Assembly today Rev K. Meshoe, ACDP President and MP, delivered the following speech on the Civil Union Bill:

This, I believe, is the saddest day of the twelve years of our democratic parliament, when some members of this house, led by the ruling party, will be attempting to pass into law the Civil Union Bill which is opposed by the overwhelming majority of our people. It is indeed very sad that the ANC leadership chose to support this Bill in spite of the overwhelming objections from bodies such as the Marriage Alliance representing millions of Christians, various other church and community groupings and the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa. Their views have for all intents and purposes been ignored and rejected.

Honourable Steve Swart made excellent legal submissions on behalf of the ACDP during deliberations, in defence of the sanctity of traditional marriage, and argued that the definition of marriage as a voluntary union between a man and a woman should be protected by a constitutional amendment.
This argument was based on the fact that marriage was instituted by God the Almighty and not liberals, and that we value marriage and the family as the fundamental building block of society.

The ACDP, together with thousands of people and groupings that made submissions to parliament, have consistently stated that same-sex marriage should NOT be legalised, and that our Constitution should be amended to protect the sanctity of marriage as the voluntary union between a man and a woman.
The Civil Union Bill justifies immorality and by inference, calls sexual perversion a legitimate alternative lifestyle that should be openly accepted. It calls immorality and perversion true virtue and commendable freedom.
May I remind this House that rejecting God’s laws and despising His Word will result in those doing it being given over to the consequences of their sins and to divine wrath. Members must also be reminded that God is not mocked. If this Parliament under the instigation of the ANC passes this Bill today, then parliament shall have gone too far and is about to cross the line of God’s patience with us as a nation.

The prophet Isaiah said, and I quote, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, …woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” Why are some forces trying to convince the nation that homosexuality is okay when God calls it abomination? For the sake of the peaceful future of this nation, members of this parliament must stop provoking God to anger as the men of Sodom and Gomorrhah did, and came under His judgement.

The writer of the book of Hebrews said, and I quote, “marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral”. Adultery, sexual immorality and homosexuality are grave sins in God’s sight since they are a transgression of His law and are defiling a marriage relationship between a man and a woman. With this Bill, the ruling party and all those who support it are inviting serious trouble on themselves without even considering the impact this Bill will have on future generations.

Whilst the ACDP appreciates that this bill is an attempt to meet the Constitutional Court ruling (the Fourie decision), we nevertheless believe it has gone beyond what was required by the Court.
Even if the Constitutional Court had required same-sex marriage, government could have, followed its OWN argument in both the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal when they argued that and I quote, “we will be out of step with the rest of the world if we allow same-sex marriages”, and then amending the constitution to protect heterosexual marriage. They could easily have done it if they wanted to.
The argument that Parliament could not amend the constitution flies in the face of this government’s approach to floor-crossing. When the Constitutional Court rejected the floor-crossing legislation for not having been passed in time, the ANC was quick to pass a constitutional amendment to allow floor-crossing. A constitutional amendment was all the more justifiable to protect the institution of marriage.

The liberal French parliament earlier this year ruled against same-sex marriages to protect children, citing article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. “Children represent the future of society. They “must not suffer from conditions imposed upon them by adults… The best interests of the child must prevail over adult freedoms… even including the lifestyle choices of parents.”
If the Civil Union Bill is passed today, it will be with the most dire consequences for the ANC which is leading this onslaught against God’s moral law and plan for human beings.
The ACDP will definitely vote against the Civil Union Bill which is unscriptual, unAfrican and legalizes perversion.
Rev KRJ Meshoe, MP
ACDP President