Political: Opposed to gay marriage? Why?
Ah, the joys of Traditional Family Values! Respect for
others, both other people and other viewpoints; caring
about the society in which you live. Accepting emotion,
and tempering it with reason; likewise morality with justice.
Helping others where and when you can, but dont forget
to take care of yourself, too. Questioning authority,
but bearing in mind that sometimes authority gets it right.
At least, these are some of the traditional values taught
in my family. Which always leaves me a little bemused when
Traditional Family Values is invoked to oppose gay marriage.
Lets see what my own TFVs tell me:
If two people fall in love, why should they be prevented
from marrying? Because they cant have children? That
doesnt make any sense: I know several married, heterosexual
couples that do not have children, and I think those relationships
are very real. This argument invalidates people who cannot
have children (for whatever reason), or those who do not
want children, from ever marrying.
I have also seen the argument that a male and female parent
is best for a child. I can certainly understand the logic
of this, but only up to a point. My own parents did not have
a very happy relationship, and they divorced. Frankly,
I think it far better to be out of a house of conflict than
stuck in one, and a child growing up in a home with a loving
relationship is far better off than in a home with a strained,
distant, or violent one. The more people around, the better
as far as Im concerned; but the days of three- and four-generation
households seems long gone in the West.
But there are far worse arguments opposing gay marriage
I have heard stated, apparently without irony. A few in
descending order of reasonableness (or order of descending
reason, if you prefer):
That the courts have no right in determining what a marriage
is. This is simply laughable. Since marriage, and who is
married to whom, has tremendous legal repercussions,
the courts are exactly where the term must be defined.
That if gays can marry, then all other marriages are somehow
made a mockery of. Not sure how this is supposed to work,
but I think the Fox network has already done that with Who
Wants to Marry a Millionaire? far more effectively than
homosexuals ever could.
That this tells people being gay is somehow preferable
that being straight, or that it gives gays special rights
of some kind. Why is that? Because they will be allowed to
do what other people can. Dont quite see the logic there,
if any is being applied.
That the number of gay people will skyrocket. Well, if they
are here anyways, who cares if they are in the closet or not?
Someone who is gay, but pretending not to be, is still gay.
That God said so. Well, Gods certainly said stupider things,
so see the bit about Questioning Authority. As always,
religion is a decision for individuals, not societies.
Unless, of course, you happen to worship the right one.
That they are hideous, abnormal Creatures of the Night
who are coming for your children and are taking over the
government to send everyone normal to Re-education Centres
so they can be brainwashed correctly, just like they did
to Hollywood and in the mass media etc. Granted, variants
of this one are becoming more rare, but its the toughest
to argue with. You may as well try to convince a Flat-Earther:
some things have to be believed to be seen, and boy do they
believe.
I am fortunate enough to live in a part of the world where
gays are generally accepted as part of society, and meteors
havent struck us; nor have our Justices been killed by
heart attacks, despite Pat Robertsons best wishes. Our
society hasnt collapsed; we havent been hit with plagues
or earthquakes of catastrophic size. And were not wallowing
in a den of iniquity, despite some of my fellow citizens
best wishes. Certainly some people would think we are,
but some people would think that in any time, at any place
in the world.
In fact, the society Im a part of seems to be living up to
old-style Traditional Family Values quite well.
Thought1
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