|
|
|||
|
See All Blogs Blog Home
Glenn Beck and Apostolic Authority 8/31/2010 (25) A Moving Event 7/19/2010 (124) Gay Marriage to Become Law of the Land 6/21/2010 (153) Facing Death at the Center of Life 6/14/2010 (188) Rand Paul Exposes Tea Party Racism in Libertarianism 5/20/2010 (236) Equal Freedom: The Obama Doctrine 5/7/2010 (240) The Last Protestant is Leaving 4/9/2010 (256) Economics in Pastoral Consciousness 3/14/2010 (256) The Strategic Consciousness of the Protestant Pastor 3/1/2010 (271) Memesis and the Culture of Personal Crisis 2/15/2010 (317) Watch Out for that Communist Folk Music 1/22/2010 (305) The Political Cross at Xmas 12/23/2009 (369) There are Socialists and Communists in the White House 10/15/2009 (509) Send Money to ACORN Now! 9/19/2009 (642) The Moral Blindness of Glenn Beck 8/11/2009 (694) The Media Creation of Whacko Conservatism 7/30/2009 (628) Seven Pentecostal Mountains and Sarah Palin 7/16/2009 (736) Major Media Unfairly Presents Anti-Abortion Rhetoric 6/3/2009 (744) You Can Get Killed in a Public Church 6/2/2009 (720) Historical Jesus Theories: Bringing on the Reign of God 5/20/2009 (792) It's Not Socialism, It's Insanity 5/20/2009 (727) When Life Begins is Not at all Clear 5/19/2009 (735) The Political Use of Torture 4/25/2009 (738) Jesus is Not Some Phony Spook 4/22/2009 (720) Poisoned Waters, Chicken Shit and Smart Growth 4/21/2009 (809) The Significance of the Killing of Robert F. Kennedy 4/13/2009 (823) The Last Book by Neuhaus: America is Babylon 4/10/2009 (858) About the New Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships 4/9/2009 (785) Seeing the Truth about God and Economy 4/2/2009 (761) Big Bankers as Terrorists 3/23/2009 (903) Without Trust, No Economy 3/19/2009 (851) Exposing the Dual Structure of American Governance 3/19/2009 (829) Another Big Book on Justice 3/17/2009 (815) Why Pastors Need to Understand Rush Limbaugh 3/16/2009 (829) The Freeman Affair and the Israel Lobby 3/16/2009 (777) Uncreative Destruction 3/16/2009 (805) Some Truth about Income Tax Rates 3/13/2009 (1010) Cultural Redemption: The Jewish-Arab Peace Song 3/13/2009 (921) The Poor Reputation of Evangelicals around the World 3/13/2009 (842) They have Stolen Our Language 3/11/2009 (811) CNBC: Mouthpiece for Business Ideology 3/11/2009 (847) Why Habermas? 3/11/2009 (897) Sex in God's Family 3/8/2009 (881) Please let us know what you think of these blogs or if you see something inappropriate.
|
Gay Marriage to Become Law of the Land
6/21/2010
On June 16, 2010, closing arguments were made in the landmark court case in San Francisco concerning gay marriage. Voters in California in Proposition 8 had overturned the California Supreme Court's decision to allow for gay marriage. This case, to be called the "Perry case" after the lead plantiff, seeks to nullify the results of the proposition. The text of the closing arguments have been made available at the website of the American Foundation for Equal Rights. Reading over this transcript it becomes clear that the arguments in favor of gay marriage are so overwhelming, and the arguments of those opposed are so irrational, that eventually as a result of this trial and Supreme Court reviews gay marriage will become the law of the land. The closing argument of Ted B. Olson, a conservative attorney who argued the case for the election of George W. Bush, argues on the basis of rulings and principles already established by the Supreme Court. It is interesting that there turns out to be a difference in the arguments used by opponents of gay marriage between what they said in their political campaign for Proposition 8 and in the legal arguments before the court. In court they argued that gay marriage threatens the "deinstitutionalization" of marriage, that it undermines the institution of marriage, that hetereosexuals will no longer seek to get married and procreation will no longer be the reason for marriage. Olson says: It is revealing, it seems to me, that the deinstitutional message is quite different from the thrust of the proponents' Yes on 8 election campaign. That, in the words they put into the hands of all California voters, focused heavily on: Protect our children from somehow learning that gay marriage is okay. Protect our children from learning that gay marriage is okay.Olson emphasized that the political message was based on the idea that gays and their relationships are not okay, are not normal like other people. But when they come into court these opponents of gay marriage know that that argument cannot work. Olson says, "For obvious reasons, the 'gays are not okay' message was largely abandoned during the trial in favor of the prcreation and deinstitutionalization themes." But when the judge, Vaughn R. Walker, asked for proof of the deinstitutionalization thesis they responded that they actually did not know, they did not know what the result of gay marriage would be. In other words, generalized rhetoric against gays works in politics, but not in the courts which require rational arguments. Very interesting. Read the whole transcript to see how strong the argument for gay marriage is and why gay and lesbian persons should not be deprived of this most significant social institution. | |||