Deputy Speaker, I believe this is the saddest day of the 12 years of our democratic Parliament when some members of this House, led by the ruling party, will be passing 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, to all intents and purposes, been ignored and rejected.
Hon Steve Swart made excellent legal submissions on behalf of the ACDP during deliberations in defence of the sanctity of traditional marriages 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 Almighty and not liberals and that we value marriage and the family as a 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 marriages should not be legalised and that our Constitution should rather 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 a true virtue that is commendable freedom.
May I remind this House that rejecting God's house and despising His word will result in those doing it being given over to the consequences of their sins and divine wrath. Members must also be reminded that God will not be mocked. When this Parliament, under the instigation of the ANC, passes this Bill today then Parliament will have gone too far and is about to cross the line of God's patience with us as a nation.
The prophet Isaiah said:
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 an 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 Gomorrah did and came under His wrath.
The writer of the book of Hebrews said:
... 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 defile the 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.
While the ACDP appreciates that this Bill is an attempt to meet the Constitutional Court ruling, we nevertheless believe it has gone beyond what was required by the court. [Time expired.]