According to results released Thursday, the 2014 survey found 56 percent of Americans overall now support civil marriage for same-sex couples, up from 48 percent in 2012. The numbers bumped up in every age group and political persuasion.

Because nearly three in four adults under age 35 are the most strongly in favor of gay marriage, Smith said there's likely to be even more movement in this direction in society overall: "They're the engine moving change."

Instead of the Christian belief that sexual identity is a given rooted in biological reality ; male and female, sexual identity is now something we as autonomous individuals choose for ourselves, based in part on latent attractions, feelings and desires. Thus, arising from the polymorphic nature of fallen human desire, we have the almost limitless varieties of 'gender' -- gay, bisexual, transgender etc.

In Genesis 1.26ff, being created in the image of God has to do with two things: multiplication for the flourishing of God's creation and the stewardship of God's created order by those given responsibility. As these two functions involve male and female working together, a third aspect of being created in the image of God needs to be appreciated: the necessary unity of male and female. Multiplication is not possible without the union of male and female.

An independent study by the Institute for Research and Evaluation reported that on average, city-wide divorce rates fall 17.5% in seven years after a CMP is signed, saving about 100,000 marriages from divorce. In fact, nearly a tenth of cities slashed their divorce rates in half - such as Austin, Kansas City, Salem, OR, Modesto, CA and El Paso, where divorces plunged 79.5%.