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Black Leader: ‘God Created Marriage’ So ‘He’s The Only One That Can Define It’
CNS | By Penny Starr | February 12, 2015 - 7:54 PM EST
Rev. Garland Hunt, president of the Prison Fellowship, spoke at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2015
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CNS | By Penny Starr | February 12, 2015 - 7:54 PM EST
Rev. Garland Hunt, president of the Prison Fellowship, spoke at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2015
(CNSNews) – Speaking at an event at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Rev. Garland Hunt said efforts by homosexual and other activists to redefine marriage defies its creation by God as the sacred union of one man and one woman.
“God created marriage; therefore, he’s the only one that can define it,” said Hunt, president of the nationwide Christian advocacy organization Prison Fellowship.
The event was held to unveil FRC’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute’s (MARRI) 5th annual Index of Family Belonging and Rejection, which measures the state of American families and the impact on children between the ages of 15 and 17 based on whether they are being raised by their biological married parents or in other family arrangements.
Link to report (following quote is in the introduction, page 2)
“Based on 2008-2012 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the U.S. Belonging Index is 46 percent and the corresponding Rejection Index is 54 percent,” the introduction to the report states.
“This means that 46 percent of teenagers aged 15 to 17 have lived with both biological parents always married since their birth, whereas 54 percent of teenagers aged 15 to 17 have lived in broken homes with biological parents who either never married or are no longer married,” it states.
The numbers are even starker for black teenagers, according to the report, with only 17 percent of teens aged 15 to 17 living with both biological married parents.
Following prepared remarks about the report by columnist and author Star Parker, who is also the founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, and Hunt, the panelists were asked about the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to hear arguments in June about whether or not state laws banning same-sex marriages are constitutional.
“Contrary to popular opinion, actually the Supreme Court is not the final arbitrator,” Hunt said.
“So we’re lining up with the final arbitrator,” Hunt said, referring to God.
Hunt said even if the court rules against the states that have put bans on same-sex marriage, it is up to Americans to stand up for what they believe in.
“I believe if the court decides in not as God defined it, the people have to stand forth and hold true to what we believe from family to family, community to community, church to church,” Hunt said.
Hunt, who lives in Atlanta, Ga., said that his state is one of those where the people voted to protect traditional marriage but their will has been overridden by a court decision.
“Over 70 percent of the state voted for marriage between a man and a woman, and now it’s back in the courts,” Hunt said. “They’re targeting Georgia to break that down.
“So, yes, just like the people vote, the people have to stand together on truth,” Hunt said. “This is what we are saying.
“And we cannot compromise what we believe under any cirstance,” Hunt said. “So it has to be a massive group of people together that determines we are going to stand on this and marriage is one of those areas.
“God created marriage. Therefore, he’s the only one that can define it,” Hunt said.
Of the 36 states where same-sex marriage is “legal,” 26 of those were decided by a judge’s ruling that state law banning the practice is unconstitutional. Eight states and the District of Columbia have gay marriage because of legislation passed in the state, while three states made it legal through ballot measures.
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