First published in Between the Lines on March 23, 2006. In his nationally syndicated column of March 17, Charles Krauthammer uses the HBO series “Big Love” (about a modern-day polygamist family in Utah) as a springboard to telling gay-rights advocates “I told you so.” Krauthammer writes: In an essay 10 years ago, I pointed out… Continue reading Polygamy Illogic Strikes Again
Tag: ethics
Left-Handed Desks and Same-Sex Marriages
First published in Between the Lines on February 26, 2006 I have just completed a week’s worth of same-sex marriage debates with Glenn Stanton of Focus on the Family. During the debates, Stanton made an excellent case in favor of traditional heterosexual marriage. I really mean that. What he did not do—what he utterly failed… Continue reading Left-Handed Desks and Same-Sex Marriages
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 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
Nature? Nurture? It Doesn’t Matter
First published August 12, 2004, in Between the Lines One of the most persistent debates surrounding homosexuality regards whether gays are “born that way” or whether homosexuality is a “chosen lifestyle.” The debate is ill-formed from the start, in that it conflates two separate questions: 1. How did you become what you are? (By genetics?… Continue reading Nature? Nurture? It Doesn’t Matter
Is Homosexuality Harmful — and So What?
First published June 17, 2004, in Between the Lines The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or so it seems as gay-rights opponents, in a desperate last-ditch effort to win their cultural war against homosexuality, trot out arguments that have been discredited for decades. Many of these focus on the alleged harms… Continue reading Is Homosexuality Harmful — and So What?
Homosexuality and Morality, Part 6: The Virtue of Homosexuality
First Published at Between the Lines on February 7, 2003 I HAVE SPENT my last five columns — and a good deal of my career — defending homosexuality against various moral attacks. Yet sometimes I spend so much time explaining why homosexuality is “not bad” that I neglect to consider why it’s positively good. Can… Continue reading Homosexuality and Morality, Part 6: The Virtue of Homosexuality
Homosexuality and Morality, Part 5: Retaining the Moral High Ground
First Published at Between the Lines on January 23, 2003 OVER THE LAST MONTH I’ve been exploring various attempts to show that homosexuality is morally wrong. Not surprisingly, I’ve concluded that these anti-gay arguments don’t hold much water. At this point in the debate opponents usually try to change the subject. “Oh yeah?” they say.… Continue reading Homosexuality and Morality, Part 5: Retaining the Moral High Ground
Homosexuality and Morality, Part 4: The Unnaturalness Argument
First Published at Between the Lines on January 9, 2003. Based on the author’s article, “Why Shouldn’t Tommy and Jim Have Sex?” in Same Sex: Debating the Ethics, Science, and Culture of Homosexuality (Rowman & Littlefield, 1997). PEOPLE OFTEN ARGUE that homosexual sex is “unnatural.” But what does that mean? Many things we value —… Continue reading Homosexuality and Morality, Part 4: The Unnaturalness Argument