How Could It Hurt?
Posted by Rebecca Teti in Marriage on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 1:00 PM
Prof. Hadley Arkes has a nice piece on same-sex marriage over at The Catholic Thing.
Particularly valuable is his refutation of the argument, frequently heard, “How does my relationship hurt your marriage?”
The main point is that the law is a moral teacher. Anything which is “a right” it is wrong to oppose. And therefore acknowledging a “right” to same-sex marriage is precisely the same act as declaring it immoral and illegal to believe that the practice of homosexuality is wrong.
With this very logic in hand, various authorities in Massachusetts have pointed out that same-sex marriage is legitimate now under the laws of the state. And therefore: Justices of the Peace who refuse to perform the marriage may lose their license. Catholic adoption services, which will not place children for adoption with gay or lesbian couples, will now be compelled to cease their operation. In other states, photographers and caterers who do not wish to offer their services for same-sex marriages have been hit with penalties, newly legislated. And most recently, in Massachusetts, Peter Vadala, working for Brookstone, the retailer, lost his job when he would not chirp up his celebration when told by a woman from another store that she was about to marry a woman.
That latter case is particularly chilling, because Peter Vadala kept his mouth shut when first told of his colleague’s same-sex wedding. Sensing his discomfort, she goaded and goaded him until he finally, calmly, reluctantly stated his disapproval. And for that he was fired for harassment.
Arkes’ conclusion:
It is a fable drugging the mind to suggest that the activists are seeking simply to be left alone in their “personal” relations. When they seek the levers of the law, they are moving beyond things merely “personal.” They are seeking the public and moral approval that the law bestows, along with the moral condemnation of those who will not share their views. The purpose now is to use the law to withdraw that freedom of others to object; to punish people who would dare speak or act in ways that honor a moral understanding at odds with same-sex marriage or the homosexual life; and to make it finally unrespectable, even legally perilous, to express certain moral sentiments, in settings public or private.
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