Posted on 03/03/2014 10:07:58 AM PST by SeekAndFind
A conservative New York Times columnist, Ross Douthat, writes that it's perhaps only a matter of time when same-sex marriage becomes legal in all 50 states, ruminating on what it might be like for those who believe in traditional marriage when that happens.
The Supreme Court is likely to be "forced to acknowledge the logic of its own jurisprudence" on same-sex marriage and redefine marriage to include gay couples in all states, writes Douthat, former senior editor at The Atlantic, in an op-ed piece for the Times.
This will finish the national debate but the country will remain divided, with a substantial minority of Americans, most of them religious, still committed to the older view of marriage, he says.
This will lead to one of two possibilities, he argues.
This division "will recede into the cultural background, with marriage joining the long list of topics on which Americans disagree without making a political issue out of it." And in this case, religious conservatives would essentially be left to promote their view of wedlock within their own institutions, as a kind of dissenting subculture, he says.
"And where conflicts arise in a case where, say, a Mormon caterer or a Catholic photographer objected to working at a same-sex wedding gay rights supporters would...let the dissenters opt out 'in the name of their freedom and ours.'"
The other possibility is that "the oft-invoked analogy between opposition to gay marriage and support for segregation in the 1960s South" is pushed to its logical public-policy conclusion, Douthat suggests. "In this scenario, the unwilling photographer or caterer would be treated like the proprietor of a segregated lunch counter, and face fines or lose his business," he adds.
Meanwhile, "pressure would be brought to bear wherever the religious subculture brushed up against state power," leading to harassment of agencies and businesses that promote the older definition of marriage, the columnist adds.
This seems more likely after last week's "debate" in Arizona over a bill that would make a way for business owners to refuse service to gay people on religious grounds, he argues.
While such bills have been seen, in the past, "as a way for religious conservatives to negotiate surrender to accept same-sex marriage's inevitability while carving out protections for dissent now, apparently, the official line is that you bigots don't get to negotiate anymore," Douthat says.
"The conjugal, male-female view of marriage is too theologically rooted to disappear, but its remaining adherents can be marginalized, set against one other, and encouraged to conform," he adds.
The writer then blames Christians for it, saying they had "plenty of opportunities thousands of years' worth to treat gay people with real charity, and far too often chose intolerance." He says they must "remember our sins, and nobody should call it persecution."
In conclusion, Douthat wonders what settlement the "victors" will impose for the "defeated."
Concentration Camps?
Not hardly. Wealth redistribution, under force of arms, will ALWAYS motivate the lazy majority. The left never rests. They are about weath redistribution for their own benefit. The left runs on extending welfare, student loans, "free" assistance for this and that. That's what they run, and win on.
I have a third and fourth possibility.
THREE: Using the logic of this argument, plural marriages are made legal. Muslims outnumber non-Muslims eventually. A Muslim state exterminates all openly gay couples, delivering a fair return for their evil.
FOUR: The majority of Americans (sorry, I disagree with the autrhor on this point) finally have HAD ENOUGH and take whatever steps are needed to restore sanity to government.
“Concentration Camps?”
Works for me!
Whereupon polygamy will become legal in less than a year after that, then bestiality.
Have you noticed how when they win, the libertarians move on to the next battle? Libertarians don't bother with these threads much anymore.
RE: FOUR: The majority of Americans (sorry, I disagree with the autrhor on this point) finally have HAD ENOUGH and take whatever steps are needed to restore sanity to government.
I’ll be more optimistic if I see something happen in states like Arizona.
The way things are now... they can’t even pass a reasonable bill protecting religious businessmen from government harassment ( even with a Republican governor ).
RE: . Ive grew up in very intolerant churches.
May I ask — would you consider it intolerant if a church considers the homosexual act a sin and tells it like it is?
Only the far left-wing looney birds like Obama want to force homosexual “marriage” and abortion down the rest of the country’s throats. There is something not right about his total obsession with the radial sodomite movement in this country, unless he’s a sodomite himself and there are smarter men than I am that say he is. So far there has been no lawsuits brought against these people for saying Obama is a sodomite and that’s the reason for the warp-speed attempt to make homosexual “marriage” legal in all 50 states.
I understand your point. I too have witnesses that behavior in churches, but it has a name: legalism. Those people are focuses on the wrong things. But, that is not the same as intentionally ignoring or deviating from God’s word! and His word says in no uncertain terms that homosexuality is an abominable sin. Can God forgive that sin if there is true confession and repentance? Of course, and God instructs us to preach the truth in love. But we are to be salt and light, and not conformed to this world. Whoever loves this world first does not love Jesus.
“Libertarians don’t bother with these threads much anymore”.
Libertarian = Small government liberals.
Sorry for the exclamation point, that is supposed to be a comma. Dang iPads.
Others have noticed the 1998 thing so I was very curious. In fact, I have noticed it myself!
A NYT columnist is considered “Conservative” because instead of kissing Obama’s ass they only smile at it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.