Controversy is a powerful marketing, promotions, and publicity tool. This weekend will be a heavy weekend of shopping for Thanksgiving meals, followed by next week's Black Friday shopping frenzy. Just as many 2016 presidential hopefuls are using the hot-button issue of traditional marriage versus same-sex marriage in their campaigns, there are a few retailers that apparently feel that following the example of Washington politicians will give them a bigger bang for their advertising dollar.  

Kohl's

Kohl's is the most recent company to use controversy as a way to apparently boost promotions and sales this Christmas season by exploiting the same-sex couple idea and blending it with the traditional family. Their newest commercial features a family coming together to prepare and share a holiday meal that seems traditional enough until about the middle of the commercial. There is an implication that two men, one Caucasian and the other African-American, are apparently a same-sex couple. They lead the family in some toast, and then a pregnant woman struggles to get up out of a chair as her apparent husband attempts to help her.

Mattel

One company that's simply being spun as busting gender stereotypes is Mattel. Mattel apparently teamed up with Moschino and created a limited edition Barbie that sold for $150. The commercial features a little boy, which is creating quite the media tizzy. A boy has never been the main character in a Mattel Barbie commercial before. The rest of the story, however, is one that makes even Rush Limbaugh too uncomfortable to dwell on for very long. It's ironic to note that while one stereotype is smashed by having a little boy as the main character, he certainly has a few mannerisms that could be interpreted as being stereotypical of guys who are gay.

Campbell's Soup

Perhaps the commercial that's being the most blatant in displaying an alternative view of the 21st-century American family is Campbell's Soup. What makes this commercial especially interesting is how it teamed up with the Star Wars movie series. Two men are feeding a toddler boy in a high chair and one makes some Darth Vader breathing noises and says, "Cooper, I am your father!" and flies the food into the boy's mouth. Then the other man says, "No, no, no! I am your father!"  No guesswork required here on the implication.   

Tradition's Roots

Most people can agree that the traditional view of marriage has a faith-based foundation. In the Bible's Old Testament book of Genesis, Adam and Eve are the very first couple introduced, and their relationship is introduced as the prototype that God has in mind for all humanity in Genesis chapter 2 verse 24, which reads, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh."

The Old Testament book of Genesis was originally written in Hebrew, and the Hebrew word for man in the above verse literally means one man. The context of the Hebrew word for a wife means the female to whom he is married. The whole idea of "one flesh" is connected to permanence so long as they both are alive.

Since America's founding fathers embraced Judeo-Christian values as their personal foundation, much of the legal system and the laws that America embraced as a nation had roots in those same values when the nation was in its early years. That's why it was acceptable for the first couple of centuries to display things like the 10 commandments in places such as court houses and public schools, and why prayer in schools and using the Bible were commonplace many years ago.

There Are Ministries that Help Homosexuals Who Want to Change

The Bible does address homosexuality, but the Bible does not endorse it as a lifestyle that can be compatible with Judeo-Christian values. That doesn't mean that Christians have an excuse for not being loving toward homosexuals, nor does it mean that God Himself doesn't love them. It does mean that a person would not be able to remain in that lifestyle if they want to have a thriving relationship with Jesus. There is an abbreviated list of additional behaviors that will hinder a person's relationship with Jesus in the Bible's New Testament book of Galatians in chapter 5. By the way, Galatians Chapter 5 also explains the behaviors that will enhance a person's relationship with Jesus.

A few helpful websites for those who are seeking to find a way to overcome unwanted same-sex attraction are Restored Hope Network, Desert Stream Ministries, and Katharos Integrity Alliance.  

One great place that outlines the foundation for a person even beginning their relationship with Jesus is found in the Bible's New Testament book of Romans, chapter 10 verses 9-10: "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."