Today David Farrar has written a post entitled The conservative case for same-sex marriage, an oxymoron if I ever heard one. I've heard these so called conservative arguments a number of times, and basically they boil down to, if marriage is so great for society, then why not expand it?
If only we human beings had the power to redefine reality that Theodore Olsen, whom David Farrar quotes, assumes we have! This assumption that by expanding the definition of marriage, it somehow magically confers its benefits upon those who were naturally excluded is silly - reality doesn't work that way!
It's not that conservatives have decided upon a definition of marriage, and by deciding that definition, think it somehow creates the ultimate relationship! We know we don't have that sort of power - why don't liberals get that? For instance, we know it is not possible to confer the benefits of being a twenty year old, physically fit young man upon an eighty year old woman by decree. I cannot state that it is so, and it be so. Neither can Parliament. Sure, we can pretend that an eighty year old woman is capable of everything that a twenty year old man is, but that only changes how we think about the eighty year old woman, not what the woman is in reality. So it is with same-sex couples. We can say that they are married, and pretend that it is so, but in reality they will not be, and because of that reality, the benefits of marriage will not be conferred to them. That's just the way it is.
Marriage works best when defined as a lifelong monogamous relationship between a man and a woman that is open to raising children, ie the Conjugal Definition. That definition is being the best definition of marriage. Children do best when raised in this sort of society where most people live by this ideal of marriage. So, expanding the definition will do nothing to confer that benefit upon those who are naturally excluded. It's silly to even argue that it will, and it's ridiculous to suggest that conservatives should support such a pretense!
David then quotes Olsen on history and interracial marriages, implying such marriages were illegal forever and thus implicitly throwing a spanner in the works of traditionalists who aren't awake.
As if history began 40 years ago and only in the US! Interracial marriages have been recognised for millenia. The United States antimiscegenation laws are the historical anomaly, and they were about who was allowed to marry, not what marriage was essentially about. More silly arguments.
The rest of David's post just builds on all of this, so I'm not going to go into it in detail. I just want to finish with the statement that there is no conservative case for same-sex marriage, because conservatives don't seek to pretend that we can change reality like liberals do. Even if they try to give us potentially compelling reasons to pretend, we still can't. Sorry, we are just not wired that way.
Conservatives deal with reality, not make-believe.
Many of my fellow conservatives have an almost knee-jerk hostility toward gay marriage. This does not make sense, because same-sex unions promote the values conservatives prize. Marriage is one of the basic building blocks of our neighborhoods and our nation. At its best, it is a stable bond between two individuals who work to create a loving household and a social and economic partnership. We encourage couples to marry because the commitments they make to one another provide benefits not only to themselves but also to their families and communities. Marriage requires thinking beyond one’s own needs. It transforms two individuals into a union based on shared aspirations, and in doing so establishes a formal investment in the well-being of society. The fact that individuals who happen to be gay want to share in this vital social institution is evidence that conservative ideals enjoy widespread acceptance. Conservatives should celebrate this, rather than lament it.
If only we human beings had the power to redefine reality that Theodore Olsen, whom David Farrar quotes, assumes we have! This assumption that by expanding the definition of marriage, it somehow magically confers its benefits upon those who were naturally excluded is silly - reality doesn't work that way!
It's not that conservatives have decided upon a definition of marriage, and by deciding that definition, think it somehow creates the ultimate relationship! We know we don't have that sort of power - why don't liberals get that? For instance, we know it is not possible to confer the benefits of being a twenty year old, physically fit young man upon an eighty year old woman by decree. I cannot state that it is so, and it be so. Neither can Parliament. Sure, we can pretend that an eighty year old woman is capable of everything that a twenty year old man is, but that only changes how we think about the eighty year old woman, not what the woman is in reality. So it is with same-sex couples. We can say that they are married, and pretend that it is so, but in reality they will not be, and because of that reality, the benefits of marriage will not be conferred to them. That's just the way it is.
Marriage works best when defined as a lifelong monogamous relationship between a man and a woman that is open to raising children, ie the Conjugal Definition. That definition is being the best definition of marriage. Children do best when raised in this sort of society where most people live by this ideal of marriage. So, expanding the definition will do nothing to confer that benefit upon those who are naturally excluded. It's silly to even argue that it will, and it's ridiculous to suggest that conservatives should support such a pretense!
David then quotes Olsen on history and interracial marriages, implying such marriages were illegal forever and thus implicitly throwing a spanner in the works of traditionalists who aren't awake.
It seems inconceivable today that only 40 years ago there were places in this country where a black woman could not legally marry a white man. And it was only 50 years ago that 17 states mandated segregated public education—until the Supreme Court unanimously struck down that practice in Brown v. Board of Education. Most Americans are proud of these decisions and the fact that the discriminatory state laws that spawned them have been discredited. I am convinced that Americans will be equally proud when we no longer discriminate against gays and lesbians and welcome them into our society.
As if history began 40 years ago and only in the US! Interracial marriages have been recognised for millenia. The United States antimiscegenation laws are the historical anomaly, and they were about who was allowed to marry, not what marriage was essentially about. More silly arguments.
The rest of David's post just builds on all of this, so I'm not going to go into it in detail. I just want to finish with the statement that there is no conservative case for same-sex marriage, because conservatives don't seek to pretend that we can change reality like liberals do. Even if they try to give us potentially compelling reasons to pretend, we still can't. Sorry, we are just not wired that way.
Conservatives deal with reality, not make-believe.