Throughout thousands of years of human history and every year of American history, people have recognized that marriage is a sacred bond between one man and one woman. This view is now under attack across the country. Liberal judges in Massachusetts, New York, and California are legislating from the bench to rewrite their states' marriage laws, instead of upholding them. The New Jersey legislature, following the lead of Vermont and Connecticut, just passed legislation establishing civil unions between homosexual couples.

An overwhelming majority of North Carolinians support marriage as a sacred bond between one man and one woman, but our current laws are not enough to protect society's most important institution. While NC General Statutes 51-1 and 51-1.2 already define marriage as "between a man and a woman," a single Superior Court judge could overturn these North Carolina statutes protecting marriage. Also, these statutes can be overturned by any future General Assembly that wants to repeal our state's statutes protecting marriage.

That's why Senator Jim Forrester and I have introduced Senate Bill 13, which gives North Carolina voters the right to put marriage in a place where even an extremist judiciary can't touch it - the North Carolina Constitution. The passage of a Marriage Protection Amendment would place traditional marriage in the strongest possible position. Voters who believe marriage is too important to become a political football tossed about by future legislatures deserve the opportunity to vote for a Constitutional Amendment that puts marriage in a "lockbox," protected from activist judges and the General Assembly by a vote of the people.

Unfortunately the Senate's Democratic leadership will not allow an up or down vote on the measure. They have sent our amendment to die in committee. That's not how democracy should work. I understand that there is a debate within society about this issue, but there should be no debate about giving North Carolina voters the right to consider this issue. Every other southern state has had the chance to vote on a Marriage Protection Amendment. Why should the people of North Carolina be denied this opportunity?

People of all faiths, from all successful civilizations, have recognized the uniqueness of the union between husband and wife. But apart from its religious nature, marriage is good for society. It is the bedrock upon which family has been built for 5,000 years. Through marriage, the human race is propagated and our values are passed down through the generations.

I don't have a PhD in rearing a family - in fact most of my experience comes from "on the job training" while raising five children with my wife - but I do know that marriage provides stability for our children and our society. Research shows that children raised by a father and mother are less likely to abuse drugs, commit crime, or drop out of school, and are more likely to be employed and attain higher levels of education.

I was raised at the Methodist Orphanage in Raleigh, where my mother was a house mom and my father was a teacher and coach. They taught me that America is great because America is good, and if you strip away our society's traditional values, we will become just like every other country. We can't let this happen. We have a duty to pass down to our children and grandchildren the values we've been given. The stakes are too high to let traditional marriage become a chapter in our history books.

That's more than our duty - it's our calling.

Fred Smith is proud to represent Johnston and Wayne Counties as a citizen-legislator in the North Carolina Senate. Previously a Johnston County Commissioner, he has also been a successful attorney, entrepreneur, farmer/cattleman and homebuilder.