[Vision2020] Gay Marriage, again

[Douglas]

Visionaries,

My question and concern is this. If we stop imposing a particular religious 
view through the mechanism of civil law (which is, we agree, what our 
current laws amount to), and we do this for the sake of allowing homosexual 
marriage, what logical reason do we have for stopping there? We suddenly 
cannot arbitrarily reimpose the religious view we just rejected (for the 
sake of limiting marriages to two persons). Your interest may be limited to 
the allowance of homosexual marriages, but those responsible for the law 
over the entire society have to keep in the front of their minds that there 
are other requests/demands that will be made almost immediately. And the 
polygamists will be near the head of the line of those making them.

Cordially,

Douglas Wilson



At 04:32 PM 8/5/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>Doug writes:
>
>>Melynda, your last paragraph surprised me. Given what you acknowledge as 
>>common practice throughout history, how could we exclude a man's two 
>>wives (for example) from ICU unless we are willing to impose a particular 
>>religious view of marriage through the mechanism of civil law?
>
>I'm not sure I understand the question.
>
>Our current marriage laws are indeed a consequence of, as you say, 
>imposing a particular religious view of marriage through the mechanism of 
>civil law.
>It's true that the number as well as the sex of the potential partners is 
>regulated, and their degree of consanguinity and their age. Once upon a 
>time their races were also policed, and in some places, their intelligence 
>and "fitness to reproduce" as defined by the state.
>
>My point was simply that questions of policy regarding polygamous 
>marriages are quite separate from questions of policy regarding same-sex 
>marriage.
>Neither one implies the other, and although there may well be people on 
>Vision 2020 who have well-defined ideas about public policy on polygamy, I 
>am not one of them.  I can only speak to the issues of same-sex marriage 
>with any degree of expertise.
>
>Limitedly,
>
>Melynda Huskey
>
>Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
>Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
>Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
>Cannot bear very much reality.
>Burnt Norton, T.S. Eliot
>
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