Last Post On Gay Marriage For A While

In the comments of a previous post, I mentioned that there are two requirements for marriage, but there are actually three - A man and a woman, only two people, no close relatives.

Challenge:

Offer a justification for gay marriage that does not also justify polygamy and incestuous marriages. Bestiality and pedophilia are also sometimes mentioned, but those are bullshit objections because animals and children cannot consent. This argument needs to be a universal argument, not a narrowly legal one based upon the text of the California State Constitution, for example.

The argument that gay individuals receive unequal treatment under the law and that therefore this needs to be rectified does not hold water for two reasons:

• One cannot argue that marriage is offered unequally to gay individuals because gay individuals have exactly the same right to marry a member of the opposite sex as everybody else.
• Close relatives could argue that they are treated unequally as well.

The argument that people should be able to marry whomever they want also allows incestuous and polygamous marriages. So, that's out.

One could argue, and I think that this is what Alan was trying to get at, that couples have a right to be treated equally with other couples. Ergo, gay couples have a right to be treated equally with straight couples. There are two problems here though. First, rights aren't typically granted to couples. Second, incestuous couple then would have a right to be treated equally as well.

I still have yet to see a convincing argument for why gay marriage should be permitted that could not be used just as easily to justify incestuous or polygamous marriage. I believe gay marriage advocates object to the inclusion of homosexuality with incest, bestiality, pedophilia, and polygamy, and therefore think those who bring up these objections are hateful people whose objections can safely be ignored. Furthermore, I think most gay marriage proponents see gay marriage as a self-evident right that requires no explanation. Both of these assumptions are dangerous.

We as a society need to know precisely why we are permitting gay marriage. under what logic and for what purpose that we are changing marriage.