The biggest threat facing America isn’t terrorism, but the moral breakdown of society, Tom Prichard, president of the Minnesota Family Council said Tuesday.

Support for same-sex marriage is the latest symptom of this collapse, he said.

“As marriage goes, I think our society goes,” Prichard said.

Christians must pray for their nation and political leaders, vote for candidates who oppose same-sex unions, and push for the approval of state and federal marriage amendments, Prichard told a dozen people at Valley Christian Church in Moorhead.

North Dakota voters will face an initiated constitutional measure which seeks to define marriage as a union between only a man and a woman on the Nov. 2 ballot.

While a gay union wouldn’t affect one couple’s existing marriage, Prichard said, it would affect society by redefining the institution and giving “society’s stamp of approval” to a union that’s less than the ideal.

Marriage is a lifelong, sexually exclusive commitment between a man and a woman, he said. Same-sex marriage would eliminate this understanding.

“It’s like trying to call a cat a dog,” he said.

He said that eliminating the notion of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman could open the door for polygamous and incestuous marriage.

“You don’t have a rational basis for saying ‘no’ anymore,” he said.

And ratifying homosexual marriage would send the message that children don’t need a mother and a father, Prichard said. He predicts that allowing homosexual couples to marry would cause enormous social problems, including increased crime, drug use and poor educational performance among their children.

Nancy Shappell of Fargo agrees that the ideal environment for children is with a mother and father, but is torn on the issue of gay marriage. She believes arguments against it paint all homosexuals as promiscuous, including those in committed, monogamous relationships.

“I don’t know as a loving Christian I can tell those people how their love is wrong, how their commitment is wrong,” Shappell said, choking back tears.

Fred Branch of Fargo has already decided that homosexuals should be allowed to marry, but came to Prichard’s presentation to hear his arguments against it.

“People are sincere on both sides,” Branch said. “But then we can be sincerely wrong, too.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Sherri Richards at (701) 241-5525