Thursday, July 4, 2013

Breitbart Agrees

I have been saying for some time that the 14th Amendment doctrine of equal protection spawned the current arguments in favor of gay marriage.  All states are now on a slippery slope to approving it.  The Supreme Court may soon insist.

I have also long been saying that the arguments endorsing gay marriage must equally be applied to American polygamists (see my THREE TIERS post -  http://fallofreynolds.blogspot.com/2011/08/three-tiers.html).

Recent Supreme Court decisions have prompted more commentators to acknowledge these realities.  I quote in full below a brilliant article from Breitbart.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/06/30/The-road-to-polygamy

The road to polygamy




Proponents of gay marriage often make light of the slippery-slope argument that same-sex marriage will lead to legalized polygamy.  I can see why they want to dismiss that argument, but they're being silly.  Of course same-sex marriage will lead to polygamy.  It is inevitable.  It'll take a little while, but it's coming.

Simple common sense tells us that every argument deployed in support of same-sex marriage is readily available to the polygamy activists.  Who are we to tell three women and one man that they can't be in love?  Who are we to deny official recognition, and government benefits, to their loving union?

This isn't just a rhetorical trick.  The essence of the gay marriage argument is that the sex of the participants is absolutely irrelevant.  If that's the case, then how can the number of participants be essential?  Everything except the exchange of vows between legal adults in a committed relationship is being stripped from marriage.  The sense that society has a deep and abiding interest in promotion the union between a man and a woman has been lost.  The question is now framed purely as one of unfair exclusion: hidebound traditionalists, religious zealots, and generally mean people are trying to keep gay people from getting married, but the forces of enlightened tolerance are riding to the rescue.  Read Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion in the Defense of Marriage Act decision; he spends a great deal of time thundering that no person of good will could possibly advance a logical reason to prevent the federal government from extending benefits to same-sex couples.  The polygamists will simply take him at his word, and read his decision right back to the Supreme Court, when it's their turn to make a bid for "tolerance."

I don't think the legal concept of "consenting adults" is necessarily voided by same-sex marriage, although it's under attack from other directions.  For that reason, slippery-slope warnings about legalized bestiality and pedophilia are going too far.  But polygamists are consenting adults.  And, as a report at BuzzFeed indicates, they were very, very pleased with the Supreme Court's DOMA decison:

The Supreme Court’s rulings in favor of same-sex marriage Wednesday were greeted with excitement by polygamists across the country, who viewed the gay rights victory as a crucial step toward the country’s inevitable acceptance of plural marriage.
Anne Wilde, a vocal advocate for polygamist rights who practiced the lifestyle herself until her husband died in 2003, praised the court’s decision as a sign that society’s stringent attachment to traditional “family values” is evolving.
“I was very glad… The nuclear family, with a dad and a mom and two or three kids, is not the majority anymore,” said Wilde. “Now it’s grandparents taking care of kids, single parents, gay parents. I think people are more and more understanding that as consenting adults, we should be able to raise a family however we choose.”
“We’re very happy with it,” said Joe Darger, a Utah-based polygamist who has three wives. “I think [the court] has taken a step in correcting some inequality, and that’s certainly something that’s going to trickle down and impact us.”
Noting that the court found the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional because the law denied marriage rights to a specific class of people, Darger said, “Our very existence has been classified as criminal… and I think the government needs to now recognize that we have a right to live free as much as anyone else.”

There's nothing illogical about what Darger is saying.  The same-sex marriage movement is predicated on the notion that nuclear families are nothing special - they're just one of many alternative lifestyle arrangements, worthy of no special recognition from government or society.  And the argument has indeed been framed as "denying marriage rights" to classes of people, rather than insisting upon the unique value of "traditional" marriage.  (I find myself using that phrase when I write on this topic, to distinguish the traditionally understood definition of marriage from the same-sex variety, but I've heard it said that qualifying the term "marriage" in any way is conceding vital intellectual ground to those who wish to re-define it.)  Why should the polygamist "class of people" be "denied" these "rights?"

It might be a forlorn hope at this point in the discussion, but I think we should re-examine the vital importance of marriage between men and women to society.  We never should have stopped emphasizing this unique value, and assumed the defensive crouch that lets activist Supreme Court judges sneer that no one can make a reasoned argument against gay marriage any longer.  It won't be much of a consolation watching the polygamists bludgeon Justice Kennedy with his own words in a few years.

Labels

10th Circuit 13th Amendment 14th Amendment 1953 Short Creek Raid 1st Amendment 6th Circuit Abortion Abraham Addam Swapp Admiralty adultery Affordable Care AG - Craig Jones AG - Mark Shurtleff Ahmedinejad Al Sharpton Alan Dershowitz Albert Nock Alex Jones Alina Darger Allen Keate Allen Steed Amnesty Anders Breivik Andrew Napolitano Angela Corey Anteater Anthony Weiner Anti-bigamy Apocalypse Arm of flesh Arnold Schwarzenegger Ashton Kutcher Assad atheism B.C. Supreme Court bailout bailouts Barack Hussein Soetoro Obama Barack Obama Barbie BarefootsWorld.net Belief vs. Practice Ben Bernanke Benghazi Bernie Machen Bestiality Betty Jessop Big Love bigamy Bill CLinton Bill Medvecky Blacks and the Priesthood blood Blood Atonement Bolshevik Revolution Book burning Bountiful Boyd K. Packer Branch Davidians Breitbart Brigham Young Brown v. Herbert Bruce R. McConkie Bruce Wisan Canada Canada Reference Carolyn Jessop Casey Anthony Caylee Anthony Chapter 13 bankruptcy Charles Darwin Charlie Hebdo Charlie Sheen Chick-Fil-A Chief Justice Robert Bauman Child-bigamy Chris Serino Christine Durham Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Church Police Civil War Clark Waddoups CNN cohabitation collaboration Colonia Lebaron Colorado City Communism Conrad Murray Conservative Constitution Country Music CPS Craig Barlow Craig Jones Creston Crimea crooked judge cultural genocide Czar Nicholas D+C 101 Dallin H. Oaks Dan Cathy Darwin Darwin's Black Box Darwin's Doubt Darwinian Darwinism Darwinists David Boies David Koresh David Leavitt Davis v. Beason DCFS Debra Weyermann decertification Decriminalization Democrat Denise Lindberg Depends Deuteronomy 28 Diaper Disodium Guanylate Disodium Inosinate DNA Doctrine & Covenants DOMA Don't Ask Don't Tell Donald Trump Dr. Drew Pinsky Dr. Seuss Dream Mine Dred Scott Drew Pinsky Drones Edom Edomites Egypt El Baradei Elaine Tyler Eldorado Elijah Abel Elissa Wall Enabling Act Entitlement Ephraim eradication Eric Holder Ernst Zundel escape European Union Eurpoean Bailout Eustace Mullins Evolution Ex Parte extradition Ezra Taft Benson FBI Federal Reserve Felony FEMA camp Feminazi First Amendment Flagellum flatulence FLDS Flora Jessop Florida Flying Circus Food waste fornication Fourteenth Amendment Free-Agency Fundamentalist Mormon Fundamentalist Mormons Gadianton Robbers Gary Herbert Gathering Gay Gay Marriage General Conference genocide George Clooney George W. Bush George Washington George Zimmerman Germany Gerunds Glue-sniffing Gordon B. Hinckley Grant Morrison Greece Greg Abbott GritsForBreakfast Gun-Control guts H1N1 Handbook of Instructions Harry Reid Harvey Hilderbran hatred HB-99 HBO Health Care Reform Heber C. Kimball Hildale Hillary Clinton Hippies Hitler Hoax Holding Out Help Holding Out Hostages Holly Madison Holocaust Homeland Security Homeschooling homosexuality Hoole Hosni Mubarak House of Cards Hubris Hugh Hefner Human Nature Hypocrisy hypocrite Idumea illegal aliens Illegal Ceremony IMF Immigration IN TIME incest Intelligent Design International Monetary Fund Iowa Supreme Court Iran Irony Irrevocable Clause Isaac Jeffs Jacob Zuma Jaimee Grubb James Dobson James Rosen Jamie Dimon Jan Brewer Jane Blackmore Janet Yellen Jeff Ashton Jeff Buhman Jeffs Jerrold Jensen Jerry Sandusky Jesse Barlow Jesus Christ Jew Jim Jones Jimmy Oler Joe Darger Joe Paterno John Boehner John Daniel Kingston John F. Kennedy John H. Koyle John Hyrcanus John Kerry John Singer John Swallow John Taylor Jon Krakauer Jonathan Turley Jonestown Massacre Joni Holm Jose Baez Joseph Compton Joseph Henrich Joseph Smith Joy Behar JP Morgan Chase Jubilee Judea Judge Barbara Walther Judge Bauman Judge Clark Waddoups Judge Dee Benson Judge Donald Eyre Judge James Brady Judge Robert Shelby Judge Terry Christiansen Judge Waddoups Julian Assange June 26th Jury Justice Christine Durham Justice Nehring Justice Robert Bauman Justin Timberlake K Dee Ignatin Kathy Jo Nicholson KD Ignatin keep sweet Keith Dutson Ken Driggs Kendra Keystone Kops kidnapping Kiev Kimberly Conrad Kingston Kirk Torgensen knife Kody Brown Lab rats Lance Armstrong Larry Beall Las Vegas Laura DuPaix Laurie Allen Lavar Christensen Lawrence decision Lawrence v. Texas LDS LDS Church Lehi Police Liberal Liberals library Lifeboat Lindberg Lost Boys Love Times Three Lukumi Lyle Jeffs Main Street Plaza Mancy Nereska Marilyn Monroe Mark E. Petersen Mark Shurtleff marriage license Marxist Mary Batchelor Merrianne Jessop Merril Jessop Michael Behe Michael Dorn Michael Jackson Michael Zimmerman middle-class Migraine Relief Mike de Jong Mike Noel military miscegenation missionaries Mitt Romney Modern Pharisee Monkeys monogamy Monosodium Glutamate Monty Python Mormon Mormon Church Mormon Matters MSG Mubarak murder Muslim polygamy Musser Nancy Pelosi Naomi Jeffs Natalie Malonis National Debt National Enquirer Natra-Bio natural selection Nazi Next Generation Ninth Circuit Nobel Peace Prize Norway NSA Obacle Obama Obamacare Obaminacare obesity Occupy Wall Street Oligarchy Open Marriage Orrin Hatch Osama Bin Laden Pakistan Palestine Papandreou Paris France Parker Douglas patriarchy Paul Murphy Paul Ryan pharaoh Planets Planned Parenthood Playboy mansion plural marriage polyamory polygamist polygamous polygamous grouping polygamous sect polygamy polygamy reference Polygamy Task Force Predictor Presbyterian Presidential Election promotional video Promulgate Prophecy Proposition 8 Prostitute Protection of Marriage Punk'd Quantitative Easing race card Rand Paul rape Raymond Jessop Reassignment Recession Reconciliation Relief Mine Religion religious test Rep. John Lewis Rep. Mike Noel Resurrection Revelation 18:3 Reynolds decision Richard Dawkins Richard Nixon Rick Santorum Rights riots Robert Mueller Rocky Ridge Rodney Holm Rodney King Roe v. Wade Ron Paul Rothschild Rozita Swinton Ruby Ridge Rulon Allred Russia Safety Net Salmonella Samaria San Angelo Sargon Sarin Saudi Arabia Schleicher County Sean Reyes Seattle Second Amendment Senator Kevin Van Tassell Shalmaneser Shannon Price Shoshana Grossbard Shutdown Siamese Signature in the Cell Silsby Silvio Berlusconi Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Sister Wives skin color Slippery Slope Socialism Sonny Hostin Soviet Union Spencer W. Kimball Star Trek Stars Stephanie Colgrove Stephen C. Meyer Steven Conn stimulus Stromberg-Stein Survival Suspect Class Swine Flu Syria Tapestry Ted Stewart Teen pregnancy Temple Teresa Jeffs termites Texas Texas CPS Texas FLDS Texas Rangers The Fall of Reynolds Theodore Olson Thirteenth Amendment Thomas S. Monson Thurgood Marshall Tiger Woods Timothy Geithner Timothy McVeigh Titanic Tito Valdez TLC Todd Shackelford Tom Green Tonia Tewell Trace Gallagher tracting Trayvon Martin trickle-down economics Trip-Wire Trust TSA twins TxBluesman Tyranny U.S. Bankruptcy. Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Supreme Court UEP UEP Trust Ukraine Uncommon Dissent Uniform Commercial Code Universe University of Oslo usury Utah Utah A.G. Utah Amendment 3 Utah Attorney General's Safety Net Utah bigamy statute Utah Legislature Utah Supreme Court Vera Black Vermont Vladimir Putin Waco Wally Bugden Wally Oppal Warburg Warren Jeffs weapon words Wendell Nielsen Whistleblowers Wilford Woodruff William Dembski William E. Jessop Willie Jessop Winston Blackmore Wisan Woodrow Wilson Worf WTC 7 Xenarthra Yams YFZ YFZ Raid YFZ Ranch Zombies