This is written in response to a recent front page IR article about two women from Montana who were to be married in California following that state's Supreme Court decision striking down a law banning same-sex marriage.

Some would support this action and argue that two people who love each other should be able to make their union legal and that the concept of freedom and justice for all should prevail.

However, the issue is immeasurably deeper than that. If this court verdict stands and then spreads to other states, it will destroy a moral order that has stood throughout recorded history. Not a single religion or moral philosophical system since antiquity has ever defined marriage as between members of the same sex.

The institution of marriage is the basic building block of society, and is the means by which we produce children that will be the next generation. The future of the human race depends on this relationship. Relationships between two men or two women are by their very nature sterile and, thus, not marriage.

If marriage crumbled, the practical implications to society would be enormous, and in ways we could not even foresee at present. If "love", "commitment" and "fairness" became the only criteria, it would become impossible to exclude any "marriage" between two or more partners of either sex. There would be nothing stopping polygamy, three men, one man and two women, etc., etc., getting married.

Further outcomes would in all probability be that textbooks would not be allowed to describe marriage in male/female ways alone. Little girls would be asked if they want one day to marry a man or a woman. The sexual confusion that would be created among young people is not fully measurable and is scary even to consider.

Our language would change. Ordinary words like "husband" and "wife" would disappear, to be replaced by "partner" and "spouse". Marriage preparation and sex education classes in the public schools would have to include instruction on homosexual sex. Parents who complained would be branded as homophobes and their children would suffer.

Any advocacy of man/woman marriage would be regarded morally as hate speech and shortly thereafter it would be deemed so in law. Traditional Christianity, which has provided the underpinnings of our nation's value system and government, and indeed that of Western civilization, would be marginalized.

In addition, we cannot ignore the fact that Christianity along with all major religions, clearly states that homosexuality is wrong. This is not something that is just open to interpretation. One reference in the New Testament. I Corinthians 6:9-10, groups homosexual behavior with idolatry, thievery, drunkenness and adultery, among other weaknesses. This is not to say that homosexual people themselves are evil, but the actual behavior is evil in God's eyes.

Trying to explain this away in the name of tolerance, human dignity, or the fact that a tiny segment of the church community has chosen to ignore this part of Christian teaching, does not change what the Bible says.

That being said, the fact is that we are all sinners. The central message of the Gospel is that God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins. Through this, we are given the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. What a wonderful gift this is.

However, Jesus' message was very clear, that we must repent and turn away from our sins and accept this free gift. If we continue in our previous behavior pattern of drunkenness, adultery, etc., it means we have made the choice to not accept God's gift.

Concerning homosexuality, thousands of people have made the decision to step away from it, and this most often happens through the experience of accepting Christ as Savior. This obviously undercuts the arguments that homosexuality is inborn and genetic.

Certainly people who believe they are homosexual need love, support and understanding. They should not be discriminated against or have to experience bigoted behavior against them. They have every right in our culture to continue in their behavior if they choose to.

We must not, however, let a false sense of "fairness", "tolerance", or "non-discrimination" undercut a foundational part of the fabric of our culture. The price to society and succeeding generations would be too great.

Tom Rasmussen of Helena is a former member of both the Montana House of Representatives and the Senate.