Incite -- (v) 1: give an incentive; 2: provoke or stir up; "incite a riot"; 3: urge on; cause to act |
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Written by: BeckI'd like to point out certain historical, rather than religious, aspects of marriage, and how they're relevant to this whole discussion. The institution of marriage (I refuse to speak of "heterosexual marriage," as by definition, marriage IS heterosexual) was a very necessary civic and social institution which dates back to the earliest periods of recorded civilization. Why? Because women needed the protection afforded by having the men who fathered children upon them held responsible for their actions. The tie can be spiritual or legal--that aspect isn't really what's key. Men, by nature, want to sow their seed as widely as possible. Often, though certainly not always, those men want to spend the rest of their time doing ANYTHING BUT taking care of those children and women. They just want the nookie. Without marriage there was little to nothing preventing them from taking no responsibility for the nasty pranks their sperm tended to pull. The alternative is to have society provide that support in the style of Plato's Republic in which children are outright communally raised and don't even know their parents. While that might sound good on paper to some, I don't think it's even necessary to explain why children raised by society instead of by two loving parents is not effective, ideal, good, or in any way desirable. As such, marriage loses its meaning when the potential for procreation is removed from the equation. I'm not opposed to civil unions between homosexuals (Answerman might have a rather different opinion on this point than I). Married people enjoy certain legal protections and benefits which are necessary, once again, for protecting women and children--things like inheritance and the carry-over of pension benefits in the event of the death of the pensioner. There is no reason why a gay man shouldn't be able to designate a beneficiary for a benefit, such as a pension, which he earned as a consequence of his years of employment in the past. When you realize just how many conservatives are opposed not to civil unions and their inherent marriage-like legal structure, but only to assigning the label of Marriage to those unions, one has to wonder why the debate on gay "marriage" is so heated. The only possible answer, then, is that elements of the radical left are bent on taking away that which their opponents consider of value. Their motive, then, must be one of purely spiteful bitterness. I welcome any arguments to the contrary--I delight in punching holes in irrational thought. And another thing... if you redefine marriage as simply being the "union of people who care deeply about each other," then what reason is there to object to polygamy? Or the incestuous marriages? Or even more perverted things? Is it so wrong to fear that opening the door to gay "marriage" ultimately opens the door to the eventual complete devaluation of marriage in any form? Is it so wrong to think that this is leading us down the road to the ultimate demise of the institution of marriage entirely? Why get married, when the only significance of the act is attainment of certain legal benefits no different from a corporate partnership? If Enron were still around, there would probably be traders right now making markets on shares of married couples. Hell, it makes more sense than trading bandwidth.
|
Contact The Author:
John Beck Feedback Welcomed
Greatest Hits
The Complete United Nations Posts Immoderate Moderates Marketing Myopia In defense of the Republic UKIP in America Playing Connect the Dots A Point So Often Missed: The Presence of an Administered Rate Reagan Remembrance Dr. Wolfowitz, or How I Supported the Right War Waged in the Wrong Way for the Wrong Reasons Divine Right of Kings and UN Mandates A Fantastic Idea, If I Do Say So Myself Why We Were Right to Liberate Iraq The Crisis of Conservatism
Blogs Worth Bookmarking
Steal The Blinds Poor Dudley's Almanac Mansizedtarget Protein Wisdom Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler New Sisyphus Iowahawk Jim Treacher Ace of Spades Captain's Quarters Rambling's Journal Neolibertarian Blog LLP Group Blog The Llama Butchers The Castle Argghhh The Politburo Diktat The Dissident Frogman In Search of Utopia Aaron's cc: TacJammer Wizbang Q&O IMAO INDC You Know You Wanna Classical Values Clowning Glory Vice Squad Samizdata Hit & Run Link Mecca The Corner Power Line Instapundit Michelle Malkin Mises Institute marchand chronicles Enlighten - New Jersey
More Top Reads
Ego SlagleRock's Slaughterhouse a_sdf This Blog is Full of Crap Redstate Who Tends the Fires The Bleat Outside the Beltway gapingvoid Small Dead Animals Kim du Toit Tman in Tennessee mypetjawa mASS BACKWARDS Hog On Ice Pardon My English Mr. Minority Speed Of Thought Bloodletting La Shawn Barber Vodkapundit Right Wing News USS Clueless LeatherPenguin Belmont Club Shades of Gray Seldom Sober Roger L. Simon Tacoma Blaze A Small Victory Murdoc Online Iraq Elections Diatribe Winds of Change Wuzzadem Enlighten - New Jersey Random Fate Riding Sun My VRWC The Daily File Matt "The Man" Margolis Bastard Sword Roller Coaster of Hate
News Links
Blogger News Network National Review Online Tech Central Station The Drudge Report Reason Online Mises Institute The Weekly Standard Front Page Magazine Town Hall VDARE
Affiliations, Accolades, & Acknowledgements
NEOLIBERTARIAN NETWORK LIFE, LIBERTY, PROPERTY ALLIANCE OF FREE BLOGS "More tallent than a million monkeys with typewriters." --Glenn Reynolds BEST CONSERVATIVE BLOG NOMINEE EMPIRE OF THE BLOGS BLOGS FOR BUSH
Life, Liberty, Property Community
Reciprocal Blogrolling
Yippee-Ki-Yay! Accidental Verbosity Conservative Eyes The Moderate Voice Perpetual Three-Dot Column Chapomatic Sudan Watch Mystery Achievement Le Sabot Post-Moderne Comment Me No Comments New Spew
Links That Amuse the Writers
Huffington's Toast The IFOC News Dave Barry's Blog Drum Machine Something Awful Fight! Cox & Forkum Fark Exploding Dog
Archives
March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 August 2006 March 2007 May 2007 June 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 September 2008 November 2008 December 2008 March 2009 April 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009
The Elephant Graveyard
We Are Full of Shit The Sicilian The Diplomad Undercaffeinated Insults Unpunished Fear & Loathing in Iraq Right Wingin-It DGCI Serenity's Journal Son of Nixon Rachel Lucas
Credits
Popdex Email Questions and Comments This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. |