Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The Real Reason Christianists Oppose Gay Marriage

Ann Althouse has a post on her blog that looks at a point and counter point on gay marriage and Proposition 8 that appeared in the Los Angeles Times the other day. The piece bore the title "A Gay-Marriage Pandora's Box?" Althouse analyzes Broyles' argument and sums it up pretty much on the same basis that I see it. Namely, Proposition 8 is NOT about protecting marriage" but ALL about justifying bigotry. Here's her summation:
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Let me see if I can make Broyles's point. I think he means to say that if same-sex marriage remains a legal right, enshrined in state constitutional law, then homosexual relationships will come to be regarded normal and good, and, consequently, anyone who objects to them will start to look like a bigot who should not be permitted to have his way. Thus, in order to preserve the right to discriminate against gay people and to keep schools from teaching children that gay couples are perfectly nice and so forth -- all things Broyles wants -- it's important to outlaw gay marriage, because it will be a powerful force in changing perceptions about gay people and those who think gay people are doing something terribly wrong.
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She leaves out only one thing: If the professional Christians lose the anti-gay battle, they will see a huge decrease in the cash flowing into their pockets - I mean "ministries." Then, God forbid, they might need to get real jobs.

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