Because of
the highly sensitive nature of this issue, the highest levels of respectful
communication between all parties who choose to comment is expected. No trolls
will be allowed. This is a post for thoughtful, contemplative interaction, not
shoot-from-the-hip polemics. Your comments are welcome - please allow extra time for my travel schedule this weekend.
One of my
great fears is that we are reaching a place in American discourse where people
who disagree with each other cannot even understand one another, much less
truly reason with each other. My modest goal in this post is to offer an
argument that same-sex marriage is not a good idea for public policy reasons. I
will not be making this case on religious grounds. That isn’t because religion
is unimportant to me. I am a Christian, and the central confession of my faith
is that “Jesus is Lord.” That is a confession I cheerfully make, and very
imperfectly follow. But the argument I will be laying out is not specific to
Christianity, or to any religion. Indeed, this issue does not always follow
cookie-cutter stereotypes. I have gay friends who oppose SSM because “marriage”
is too conventional, and I have extremely conservative Christian friends who
support SSM on libertarian political grounds. In my case, the argument I am
going to make comes from millennia of philosophical reflection on the meaning
of marriage itself.
