Awesome video series featuring John Corvino, author of Debating Same-Sex Marriage (Point/Counterpoint) calmly and rationally debunking basically every argument you’ve heard against same-sex marriage equality, starting with the video above that is about the definition of marriage.
See also his related videos on YouTube:
Doesn’t legal same-sex marriage lead to polygamy or incest being made legal?
Is Gay Marriage a Threat to Traditional Marriage?
Is Gay Marriage a Threat to Religious Freedom?
There are many more to be explored (and shared!) via John Corvino’s YouTube channel, which is just awesome.
Personally, I really like his take on whether or not people who are against marriage equality are bigots (video below). Personally (and I’ve said this publicly), I think discriminating against any group of people based upon sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender or other things out of one’s control is bigotry. But I profoundly agree with Corvino that we need to be careful about demonizing our opponents.
“The best antitdote to moral blind spots is to educate people, not to shun them. And if we’re going to make progress, we need a better conversation.”
While I have yet to read an argument in favour of same-sex marriage that I find at all persuasive I’m sure opponents of anti-miscegenation laws felt the same way, but I presume you will charge that is an unfair comparison. Interestingly enough, I have yet to read an argument opposed to same-sex marriage that I find at all persuasive. More so, I can find no compelling argument that says the default position of a society should be to restrict liberty for individuals until they are found worthy of having the same rights and responsibilities of their neighbors. These realities, though… Read more »
While I have yet to read an argument in favour of same-sex marriage that I find at all persuasive (and I have – quite literally – read dozens of such arguments, some of them book length, from leading proponents), I applaud Corvino for putting the effort into having a reasonable and charitable debate on the subject. Unfortunately, this is a debate that typically founders on the notion – variously expressed on both sides – that opposition to same-sex marriage boils down to religion, although the strongest arguments against same-sex marriage don’t need to mention religion at all. Alongside this you… Read more »
In the United States at least, marriage is ALREADY a civil, non-religious institution that is ALREADY unrelated to reproduction. Even without same-sex marriage, a union without religious sanction and without children is ALREADY perfectly normal, standard, and fully accepted in all areas of our society.
Same-sex marriage will have no effect on these points, which are the only objections ever raised–“It’s against God! Gays can’t have kids!” Neither of these points matter to marriage as it currently stands in America anyway.
But the Lindy West approach is so seductive…