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  • From: Michael Czeiszperger <michael AT czeiszperger.org>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] One more whack at the dead horse...
  • Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 13:48:46 -0400


On Apr 18, 2005, at 2:59 AM, Lee Haslup wrote:

A subset of the infinite ways to hook up -- the union of one man and one woman -- is recognized by the government (and society as a whole) as "marriage" and given special status and a certain degree of encouragement. This special status can be justified by the tendency of married couples to impose less cost on the government and to make the least trouble for society. Experience has shown that they generally take care of themselves and one another and they raise up their kids to be passable citizens with less help from the government than people selecting other lifestyles.

If married couples "impose less cost on the government", then shouldn't you be encouraging same-sex couples to marry?

When people living a lifestyle outside of the idea of marriage demand to be free to marry they are demanding that everyone else in society change their idea of marriage to accommodate them. If your overriding value is equality then this is a compelling argument. If you seek to maximize liberty above all it is absurd.

I don't know what you mean by "liberty" in this case. If liberty doesn't include the right to enter into a permanent relationship with another human being, what could it mean? If you are arguing that people who are offended by the idea of same-sex marriage have a right not to be offended, I don't remember freedom from being offended by others as a constitutional right. Since when does the majority get a vote on the inalienable rights of an individual?

The basic problem here is people are confusing their religion's right to define marriage with the state's role in sanctioning it. The consensus solution that I've seen (i.e. people who agree with me) believe that the state should hand out marriage certificates without regard to religion, and if religions want to pile on additional restrictions to have that marriage recognized, then its up to them. The government shouldn't be in the business of enforcing judeo-christian religious doctrine.

___________________________________________________________________
michael at czeiszperger dot org | "Kindness knows no shame"
Chapel Hill, NC USA | -- S. Wonder





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