[Vision2020] Same sex marriage

[Kenneth Marcy]

On 7/15/2012 11:32 PM, Donovan Arnold wrote:

<[snip]> "It is immaterial if a same gendered couple adds children to 
the world with assistance from an opposite gendered person outside the 
marriage. They have still added children to the world." <[snip]>

True. The biological fact of the matter is that same-sex couples can not 
reproduce (scientific oddities with mice notwithstanding). If society's 
understanding of the nature of marriage is such that even same-sex 
couples are to be allowed to create new children, and allows same-sex 
new parentage to be legal, then same-sex marriage as an ancillary means 
for population control is a failure. Indeed, it is worse than a failure 
to the extent of such related population increase.

<[snip]> "My point, is that no person should be forced to marry another 
person for reasons other than for love of that person." <[snip]>

By way of contrast, I suggest that no person should be forced to marry 
anyone for any reason, including for love of that person.

"Your argument, that people should marry someone of the same gender to 
reduce the human population, boils down to saying everyone should engage 
only in gay sex for the purposes of reducing pregnancies. Which is, shy 
of any other respectable world, silly."

The word that should be assigned to your characterization of the 
argument is incorrect, not silly. The initial suggestion was that 
same-sex marriage should be legal in order to recognize those same-sex 
couples who wish to marry and not add to the excess population. I did 
not suggest, nor does the potential legality of same-sex marriage imply, 
that, as you write "everyone should engage only in gay sex for the 
purposes of reducing pregnancies." That suggestion goes way beyond silly.

If same-sex couples demand child creation and child rearing privileges 
be granted to them legally, and if society, as it apparently has in 
jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal, grants such privileges, 
then society not only fails to favorably address the overpopulation 
problem, it unfavorably addresses it by going out of its way to create 
another avenue through which more legally-sanctioned people may be 
created. Whatever degrees of legal fairness, equity, and justice may 
otherwise inhere to legalized same-sex marriage, population control 
assistance is not among them.
"The only possible strength to your argument might be, that some people 
might get married to a same gendered friend for the tax and medical 
benefits. But again, that would be morally wrong to do that, in my 
personal opinion."

The distinction between moral and legal has long been recognized, and it 
is not likely going away any time soon.


Ken
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