Michael Reagan, son of the late former President Ronald Reagan, has spoken out in a recent op-ed for the Ironton Tribune that it is time for religious leaders and institutions to fight back in the gay-marriage debate.

“You can’t win the fight if you don’t put on the gloves,” writes Reagan as his opener for the charged opinion piece.

Reagan points out Fox TV and Rush Limbaugh as the media sources that are “arguing the conservative — and moral — position that sanctifying gay marriage with the grace of the U.S. Constitution is not only wrong but a serious threat to the culture of this country.”

“I don’t expect the GOP to provide any leadership,” writes Reagan. “Republicans are too busy cat-fighting with each other and making sure their presidential choice will be whooped by Hillary Clinton in 2016.”

However, Reagan questions where heads of religion within the US are.

“And where in the heck are the churches on the issue of legalizing gay marriage? Where are the Protestants, Jews and Catholics? Have they lost their tongues? Their hearts and wills? Their institutional you-know-whats?”

“Are our churches and their comfortable leaders simply no longer willing to fight for what is right?”

“Churches should be in the vanguard of the fight to defend the culture against legalized gay marriage, not hiding in their pews.”

Reagan then discusses California’s controversial Proposition 8, which is currently being debated in the Supreme Court. The Proposition, which was voted upon by California residents, put a ban on same-sex unions in the state.

“This fight over Proposition 8 isn’t just about saying it should be legal in the eyes of government for two people of the same sex to get married in California. It’s ultimately about changing the culture of the entire country; it inevitably will lead to teaching our public school kids that gay marriage is a perfectly fine alternative and no different than traditional marriage.”

Reagan then goes on to say that if Prop 8 is overturned, “There is also a very slippery slope leading to other alternative relationships and the unconstitutionality of any law based on morality. Think about polygamy, bestiality, and perhaps even murder.”

In closing, Reagan writes “Meanwhile, as the High Court decides our fate, it’s time for the churches to get engaged and start fighting for America, instead of wimping out. If it takes them giving up their 501(c)(3) status to start fighting for righteousness, then I’m all for it.”