Several passages in the gospels, and a few early Christian writers, suggested that the married state was no worse than celibacy. But this was explicitly ruled a heresy by the Church at the end of the fourth century. Even St. Augustine, whose defense of the “goods” of marriage is much quoted by contemporary marriage promoters, declared that, “it is better for human society itself not to have need of marriage.” Not until 1215 was marriage even made one of the Christian sacraments.

Certainly, the Christian suspicion of marriage had nothing to do with endorsing nonmarital sex or cohabitation, despite the radical (dare we say socialistic?) practice of the apostles, who held “all things in common … and divided them among all, as anyone had need.” Still, it strikes me as a failure of nerve when politicians tell gays and lesbians to give up their dream of marriage and remain celibate without mentioning that this was also the traditional advice to heterosexuals seeking to live a moral life.

Granted, this would be a tough sell on the campaign trail, even with the concession that weak-willed heterosexuals should be allowed to cool their passions within marriage. But didn’t Jesus repeatedly warn his followers that they must be prepared to accept hatred and derision? And when he told his followers to turn the other cheek, surely he didn’t mean bend to the prevailing wind.