Sunday, October 12, 2008

Libertarian Thoughts

I had a friend tell me that he was still looking into Proposition 8, but that he thought the more "libertarian" position might be to vote against the proposition. I shot him back the following quick response that convinced him to vote YES on Proposition 8. I am sure that I could have developed my arguments more and raised many other points, but hopefully this will at least be a starting point for some libertarians to think about.

Destroying marriage is not libertarian. There is nothing libertarian about forcing people/society to accept a moral position that they don't agree with. Taking away a doctor's license because he refuses to inseminate a lesbian couple is not libertarian. Forcing a photographer to take pictures at a lesbian wedding is not libertarian. Forcing Catholic Charities in Massachusetts to choose between placing children with gay and lesbian couples or lose its license is not libertarian – by the way, it gave up its license rather than betray its religious beliefs. From the perspective of the law there is no difference between the rights of civil unions and marriage. It is not libertarian to allow the California Supreme Court on a 4 - 3 vote to overturn what 61% of Californians approved as marriage -- one man, one woman. Empirically, this will do nothing but further erode the value of marriage and cripple the government's ability to encourage traditional families as the best environment for kids. You really need to look into this. Who wins the presidency pales in comparison to the importance of this issue and the effect that it will have on society -- even you [a single guy].

3 comments:

Camille said...

Those are convincing points. So often the argument for same-gender marriage is couched in the language of civil rights. In defending the rights of those who do not lack any rights, they disregard the much larger and more general set of rights that will be denied to those who make up the majority of our society.

Anonymous said...

Very good points, this will be helpful in answering similar questions people I know have raised. I hope it may also be convincing to them, thanks!

Anonymous said...

Very well written. Thank you for analyzing and conveying an important element of the debate.