Marriage Under Fire : Why We Must Win This War

Rating:
Summary: An Epic Tragic-Comedy of Lilliputian Proportions
Review: I bought this book because I wanted to get an intelligent perspective from "the other side" on the issue of Gay Marriage. I had never heard of Dr. Dobson, and had no idea he was a "religious" leader. Even the book jacket does not intimate a religious bent to this book, describing "Focus on the Family" as a "nonprofit organization." The first warning bell went off when I opened the book and found the subtitle had changed from "Why we Must Win this Battle" to "Why we Must Win this War."

The text is scant and comprises only 86 pages if you exclude the Q&A section (penned by Focus on the Family staff), the "do-it-yourself-cut-and-paste" pro-FMA letters to government officials and the advertisements.

It is not until page 47 that we first learn why gay marriage must be prohibited. Prior to that, the arguments presented consist of (A) why marriage is good for people (as long as you are straight) and (B) the horrible effects of divorce and single-parenting on children. (Perhaps Dr. Dobson should be fighting against divorce??)

A poignant and telling quote from the book:

"Like Adolf Hitler, who overran his European neighbors, those who favor homosexual marriage are determined to make it legal, regardless of the democratic processes that stand in their way."

This sentence sums up the purpose and method of the book, which is to promote vicious associations ("those who favor homosexual marriage" are "like Adolph Hitler") and to present ludicrous claims as fact, peppering the language with specific scare tactics designed to frighten just about everyone.

Some of his scary assertions:

"Gay marriage will destroy traditional marriage because this is the ultimate goal of activists and they will not stop until they achieve it." [Gays really just want to destroy marriage for everyone.]

"There is no issue today that is more significant to our culture than the defense of the family. Not even the war on terror eclipses it. We must step up to the plate." [Gays in love are worse than Iraqi insurgents.]

"The homosexual agenda is not marriage for gays. It is marriage for no one. And it is definitely not monogamous." [Gays are not capable of a monogamous relationship. The proof is even documented right there in the book: "homosexuals are rarely monogamous, often having as many as three hundred or more partners in a lifetime-some studies say it is typically more than one thousand."]

"Gay marriage will lead inexorably to polygamy and other alternatives." [Gays want to marry a whole bunch of people, children, relatives and beasts.]

He illustrates these points by asking such pointed questions as, "How about group marriage? Or marriage between daddies and little girls? How about marriage between a man and his donkey? Anything allegedly linked to 'civil rights' will be doable."

Being gay is a choice. Dr. Dobson states that homosexuality is preventable and curable. He relays the stories of two "ex-gays" who both "became" homosexual after being molested as children. [Did they choose to become gay because they were molested? What am I missing here?]

Another vague (or not so vague) "Hitleresque" reference (because it never hurts to reinforce your message):

"For nearly sixty years, the homosexual activist movement and related entities have been working to implement a master plan that has had as its centerpiece the utter destruction of the family."

A plethora of "bad guys" and their antics are depicted throughout this book: radical feminists, lawless local officials and rogue local officials, the liberal media, the entertainment industry, Congress, "the imperious Court" (U.S. Supreme Court), the libraries, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Katie Couric, Hugh Hefner, Phil Donahue and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy (starring as...."the most dangerous man in America"). Oh yeah, and Adolph Hitler.

You don't even have to pay for this book if you don't want to. Or, if you really like Dr. Dobson and want to contribute to his "cause", you can pay double or more for it! It is available on his website for a "suggested donation" of $11.00. Or, you can pay $2.00 more that the cover price of $10.99 if you want to help out another "nonprofit" organization, "The American Family Association" via their website, "nogaymarriage.com".

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Overview of America's Marital Crisis
Review: I've read a few other books on the subject of homosexuality in general and same sex marriage in particular, and this title is one of the best I have found. Dobson begins by describing the present state of marriages in America. He then gives a brief history of how we have slumped towards increasing acceptance of gay marriages.

The best part of this volume is the latter half. Dobson makes several powerful, convincing arguments as to why same-sex marriages have a harmful effect on our entire society. The author then concludes his work by prescribing how people can get involved, stopping the moral erosion and preserving the very institution of marriage itself.

This book is short and to-the-point. It could easily be read in one sitting. I recommend it highly to everyone who desires an understanding of the Christian, Biblical perspective on America's marital crisis.

Rating:
Summary: One-sided, poorly researched
Review: Mr. Dobson's hastily assembled "book" (a quick read at barely 128 pages) ignores statistical comparisons between heterosexual marriages and long-term homosexual relationships as well as studies of children raised in same-sex family environments vs. "traditional" families. If you're a fan of Mr. Dobson then you will be thrilled with this book. If you're looking for a reasoned analysis of the issues surrounding same-sex unions and American society then I'd recommend you look elsewhere.