Marriage & Family
I find this discouraging, although probably not for the reason one would suspect: Children do not bring happiness. In fact more often they seem to bring unhappiness. That is the conclusion of one academic study after the next — and there are so many that it makes one wonder if researchers kept trying, hoping for…
At Rhody’s suggestion in the comments to my post on the Iowa same-sex marriage decision, I took a look at Nate Silver’s statistical assessment of the likelihood that Iowans will revoke the decision via constitutional amendment: I looked at the 30 instances in which a state has attempted to pass a constitutional ban on gay…
If one knows the history of the same-sex marriage debate, the opening paragraph of this editorialized report in the DesMoines Register strikes an odd note: Basic fairness and constitutional equal protection were the linchpins of Friday’s historic Iowa Supreme Court ruling that overturned a 10-year-old ban on same-sex marriage and puts Iowa squarely in the…
Is he looking to create a distraction from all of the money he is costing us? Has he run out of substantive arguments on the issue itself? “At some point, [the Defense of Marriage Act] is going to have to go to the United States Supreme Court,” the congressman, a Democrat, said. “I wouldn’t want…
It’s a harsh title, I know, and I wouldn’t have run it but for the very fact of diminishing stigma evidenced in recent statistics (which is to say that the term “bastard” has no real social force in accord with its actual meaning*): The 4,317,119 births, reported by federal researchers Wednesday, topped a record first…
I struck up an Internet friendship with artist and art reviewer Maureen Mullarkey back in the early days of blogging, begun with an initial contact concerning our agreement about same-sex marriage. That agreement has apparently plunged her into chilling circumstances: Strange times we live in when it takes a ballot initiative to confirm the definition…
Back in the pre-Goodridge days, when those on either side of the same-sex marriage issue would have extensive debates on the merits of arguments, many on the pro-SSM side (notably Andrew Sullivan) argued that the Defense of Marriage Act would prevent a state judiciary from forcing nationalization of same-sex marriage. The traditionalist side pointed out…
With my schedule, I wasn’t able to attend this year’s hearing at the Statehouse on same-sex marriage. The arguments that I’ve been making for years still stand, though, and to some extent, I’m not convinced that the battle has much to do with reason, anymore (if it ever did). The dueling radio ads tell the…
I have to say that I’m not sure what to make of Joe Trillo’s planned strategy for dealing with same-sex marriage if he becomes governor and the issue comes up: Were a bill allowing same-sex marriage to make it to his desk as governor, Trillo said he would let a public poll determine whether he…
Ray Hodges’ ruminations on the morality of same-sex marriage are reasonable and presented with an even temper. Just so must be the tone of any dialogue on controversial matters. Unfortunately, his argument is a wholly erroneous construct, collapsing under the weight of misapprehensions, categorical non sequiturs, and an a priori conclusion. The flaws emerge right…