The French Revolution was a bloody mess. Blood literally flowed in the streets. The god of reason was substituted for the only true God. When this happened, irrationalism served as a cruel and vindictive master.

There’s a new revolution on the march in France. And while it might not be blood, its long-term consequences could be even more devastating the sharp blade of the guillotine. “France is set to ban the words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ from all official documents under controversial plans to legalize gay marriage.”

Couples will only be recognized as “parents” in marriage ceremonies for all heterosexual and same-sex couples. “The draft law states that ‘marriage is a union of two people, of different or the same gender.’”

“It says all references to ‘mothers and fathers’ in the civil code – which enshrines French law – will be swapped for simply ‘parents.’

“The law would also give equal adoption rights to homosexual and heterosexual couples.

“Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told France’s Catholic newspaper La Croix: ‘Who is to say that a heterosexual couple will bring a child up better than a homosexual couple, that they will guarantee the best conditions for the child’s development?’”

Yes, who is to say? That’s the question of the ages.

Where does the redefinition of marriage or anything else stop if we adopt the premise of “who is to say”? In the case of the French, it’s the French government that will say what constitutes a marriage. Once a government assumes the authority to redefine a God-ordained institution, there won’t be anything it can’t redefine.

In the Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), the Supreme Court ruled that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves (or their descendants, whether or not they were slaves) were not protected by the Constitution and were not U.S. citizens. Adolf Hitler redefined Jewish personhood and planned for their extermination. In 1973, the Supreme Court, in a 7–2 decision, ruled that pre-born babies were non-persons that could be killed by their mothers.

It was during the French Revolution that religion was redefined and reason was elevated to divine status. We all know how that turned out.