@lungfish, none among us can deny a sympathy for your expressed sentiments and *intents* of expanding State power, but it is of an initial, transient benefit, wielded with expediency, one time the instrument of some prevailing good you wish to see, only to become an instrument of your own defeat. Furthermore, it does not make one a relativist in their refusal to have a government relegate to the masses, for a time, some value you subscribe to. You would do more harm to the institutions of your religious faith, as history would evince, by marrying them to the powers of the State, than leaving them to compete among the varying institutions of society, within a framework of law, exempting their ability to exercise force. Rational self-interest will prevail in the subject matter of the traditional, nuclear, family-unit, and the literary support of this opinion is substantive. The only way you would preserve the values you hold dear is by leading through example, convincing people it is within their interest, and by utilizing media to reinforce the values. All institutions within society, many entrenched in a non-violent conflict of competition for social influence, mustn't violate the sovereignty of the individual's right to voluntary adoption, and as I said before, self-interest is on your side, and this is a force which will always prevail.
