My retreat and same-sex marriage preparation for tonight

I went on a Catholic retreat over the weekend, and since then I've been reorienting my life. I do spend too much time on the computer, so have been staying away and doing other things instead. Semi-normal posting will resume as soon I integrate the changes I've made.

In the meantime, I have to prepare for a talk I'm giving on the proposed changes to marriage in New Zealand. I've noticed that Matt and Madeleine Flannagan (of MandM) wrote a very good post on the subject on WhaleOil's blog yesterday. If you want to understand the serious deficit in logic being employed by the marriage equality crowd, read Guest post: critiqueing the case for same-sex marriage.

The best article that I've read so far that addresses all the current issues and major arguments, is What is Marriage? It specifically spells out the difference in understand of marriage between those of us who want to adhere to a more traditional view (the Conjugal View below), with those who wish to revise it (the Revisionist View).

Conjugal View: Marriage is the union of a man and a woman who make a permanent and exclusive commitment to each other of the type that is naturally (inherently) fulfilled by bearing and rearing children together. The spouses seal (consummate) and renew their union by conjugal acts – acts that constitute the behavioral part of the process of reproduction, thus uniting them as a reproductive unit. Marriage is valuable in itself, but its inherent orientation to the bearing and rearing of children contributes to its distinctive structure, including norms of monogamy and fidelity. This link to the welfare of children also helps explain why marriage is important to the common good and why the state should recognize and regulate it.

Revisionist View: Marriage is the union of two people (whether of the same sex or of opposite sexes) who commit to romantically loving and caring for each other and to sharing the burdens and benefits of domestic life. It is essentially a union of hearts and minds, enhanced by whatever forms of sexual intimacy both partners find agreeable. The state should recognize and regulate marriage because it has an interest in stable romantic partnerships and in the concrete needs of spouses and any children they may choose to rear.

Below is a 30 minute documentary on how same-sex marriage will affect you and your children. Be prepared to be afraid! No, not really, I just said that for effect. We need to be raising our children and grandchildren (when we have them) to be martyrs. No need to be afraid of this. Yeah, I've been on a retreat, so I'm philosophical on this.