KBJ on Same-Sex Marriage
Much confusion about same-sex marriage abounds. For example, though I believe most religious people oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage, the basis for keeping lawful marriage between one man and one woman isn’t rooted in religious belief necessarily.
If you’re interested in understanding such a thing, then you can do no better than Keith Burgess-Jackson. Professor Burgess-Jackson specializes in clarity (that’s what philosophers do), and he’s an atheist. This last point is irrelevant logically. But it does matter emotionally. No one can accuse professor Burgess-Jackson of trying to impose his religious beliefs on others.
I give you KBJ on “homosexual” marriage.
My question for both sides, straight and gay, is why do we want the state to regulate marriages at all? Neither Federal nor State government should be involved in marriage one way or another.
An article that is exactly three years old today, that still applies to the here and now:
http://www.reason.org/commentaries/summers_20051111.shtml
That’s an excellent question, and deserves its own post.
I think the reason for government involvement is that it has no choice. Or put differently, marriage isn’t a private issue, it’s public through and through (and always has been), and society has a vested interest, for a host of reasons, in encouraging the marriage of opposites – one man and one woman.
Of course, I haven’t argued for that here. I’ll create a separate post for that. Or hopefully, someone else will do it, and I just link to it