Debating the Indefensible?

First published as “Angry Lesbians and Right-Wing Nutcases” in Between the Lines on January 26, 2006 In a few weeks I’ll be doing a “Michigan tour” debating same-sex marriage with Glenn Stanton of Focus on the Family. People sometimes ask me whether I ever encounter hostile audience members at these debates (I do). “Which kind… Continue reading Debating the Indefensible?

Kurtz’s Confusions

First published in Between the Lines, January 11, 2006 Stanley Kurtz is at it again. In the cover story for the December 26th Weekly Standard—“Here Come the Brides: Plural Marriage is Waiting in the Wings”—Kurtz cites a recent Dutch “triple wedding” as further evidence for the slippery slope from gay marriage to polygamy. (The Netherlands… Continue reading Kurtz’s Confusions

Same-Sex Marriage: The End of Rights?

First published October 27, 2005, in Between the Lines. During a recent debate in Bar Harbor, Maine, I was confronted with a seemingly novel argument against same-sex marriage. Rev. John Rankin of the Theological Education Institute of Hartford, Connecticut, claimed that same-sex marriage, far from being a civil right, actually undermines the very foundation of… Continue reading Same-Sex Marriage: The End of Rights?

The Church’s Shame

First published September 29, 2005, in Between the Lines Back in the 1980s, I aspired to the Roman Catholic priesthood. After investigating various orders, I eventually gravitated toward the Franciscans, not so much on theological grounds as for having clicked well with the vocation director, “Fr. Larry.” (Or maybe I thought that brown was the… Continue reading The Church’s Shame

In Defense of Pleasure

First published September 15, 2005, in Between the Lines. One of the delights of being a philosophy professor is that I occasionally come across charming texts in the history of ethics. Here’s Mary Warnock in her 1960 classic Ethics Since 1900: Many people…feel strongly that some kinds of behavior, though utterly harmless to other people,… Continue reading In Defense of Pleasure

Luther Vandross’s Glass Closet

First published July 7, 2005, in Between the Lines. Luther Vandross was the avatar of romance. Other people’s. The famed R&B singer, who died last week at 54, zealously declined to discuss his personal life, telling reporters that it was “none of your damn business.” Indeed, when his biographer Craig Seymour tried repeatedly to broach… Continue reading Luther Vandross’s Glass Closet

The New Pope: Wrong on Relativism

First published April 28, 2005, in Between the Lines. Although some people would describe me as a fallen Catholic, they’re wrong: I didn’t fall; I leapt. Still, after John Paul II’s death, I followed the papal candidates with an enthusiasm normally reserved for American Idol contestants. Eagerly I scrutinized their biographies on interactive websites, trying… Continue reading The New Pope: Wrong on Relativism

Civil Discourse on Civil Unions

First published January 20, 2005, in Between the Lines Some of the nastiest mail I receive is not from right-wing homophobes, or even bitter ex-boyfriends, but from members of our own community who think I’m not progressive enough. For example, shortly after I argued in Second Thoughts on Civil Unions that we ought to fight… Continue reading Civil Discourse on Civil Unions