The following article from Inside Catholic makes some excellent points and is well worth reading:
H/T – Mrs. Don-o
Five Ways to Talk to the Left about Same-Sex Marriage
Eric Pavlat – InsideCatholic.com
[...]
1. Focus on the Words ‘Right’ and ‘Marriage’
So much of the argument for gay marriage is based on the idea of equal rights for all. An easy response is to state that you fully support equal rights for everyone — to free speech, to association, to any legitimate human right.
Of course, you then clarify that the freedom to marry is not a right. A few quick examples should show why:
- Marrying an already-married person is illegal. If marriage were a right, then this restriction would be unjust and should be illegal.
- All states restrict certain persons from marrying (to some degree or another): aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, children and parents, even in-laws (who aren’t related by blood). These restrictions would constitute another breach of a “right” to marry whomever one chose.
- Marriage has an age of consent; there’s no “age of consent” for our rights to speech and religion.
- One must pay the government a fee in order to marry. But rights are free and automatic, not available for purchase.
It’s also worth asking why rights exist at all, and where they come from. Are they granted by governments? If that were the case, the government could also take them away. Are they simply innate, then? But if so, how do we know that? What does that mean?
Of course, we as Catholics know that rights come with duties; that freedom means the right to do what we ought to do; and that these things stem from our being made in the image and likeness of God. Prompting these questions gives you the opportunity to share a more coherent view of rights and their origins.
Eventually, the question comes down to what marriage is: the lifelong union of one man to one woman. The two sexes are complementary, not undifferentiated. “Nature and reason tell us that a man is not a woman,” says scholar Harry Jaffa. The Minnesota Supreme Court concurs, writing, “There is a clear distinction between a marital restriction based merely upon race,” a limitation it finds illegitimate, “and one based upon the fundamental difference in sex.” A man and a woman are necessary for the creation of children, and for those children to be raised by people with complementary gifts.
What about auxiliary rights that have been attenuated to marriage through the years — hospital visitation, inheritance, and so on? These can be fulfilled by other readily available means, including contracts, wills, and power-of-attorney documents. Marriage is not necessary to acquire them.
In short, by shifting the conversation from “equal rights for all” to the nature of rights and marriage, you’ve removed the conversation from the realm of bigotry and homophobia to a place where progress can be made.
2. Oppose the Status Quo
At this point, gay-rights supporters will often say that it is heterosexual couples who have damaged marriage. They are right, and we need to agree.















Opinionated Infidels