I am 100% for Proposition 8. I firmly believe that marriage between a man and a woman brings the greatest happiness, and is the only type of marriage. I also believe that if Proposition 8 does not pass, it will have extremely devastating affects on individuals, society, my children and future generations. Marriage and marriage relations (if you will) are too sacred and precious to be messed with.
Recently my husband responded to the questions that a friend of his had regarding the issue. Here are the questions, and his response to one of them.
In trying to answer these questions, I am in no way pretending to be an expert or to have any knowledge beyond my own experience, which probably is not representative of society in general.
1) Can you, without resorting to hyperbole, "slippery slope" or making things up tell me any way gay marriage would effect your marriage.
No. But I believe it will affect my children. I believe that our thoughts and what we focus on have a significant impact on who we become, and I do not believe that same-sex unions are a common, natural occurrence.
The predominant natural human instinct is attraction to the opposite sex. Of course, it is okay to be different. Same sex attraction may occur naturally in uncommon instances. But I believe that it can also occur as a result of indoctrination, a conscious choice (maybe out of a desire to be different, or even rebellion), or, sadly, inappropriate sexual exposure during formative years.
As laws force a change in the traditional definition of marriage to include gay marriage, public policy and political correctness force society to accept same-sex unions as common and natural, and to deny possible underlying causes. After all, why must something “natural” have a “cause?”
As my children become a part of that society, they will be forced to consider whether their natural attractions are actually natural, or if they are learned from my wife and I. They will be forced to consider the possibility that maybe they are actually gay. These forced considerations, combined with the fact that it will be a controversial and therefore a common topic, will probably cause many children to develop same-sex tendencies where they otherwise would not have.
I’ll answer the question you would probably ask next. “So what? It is his or her choice.” Let’s face it. Parents want their children to follow in their footsteps. Nobody wants their children “converted.” But it is more than that. I am convinced that my children will have happier lives if they experience regular inter-gender relationships, if they have heterosexual marriages, and if they are able to experience the birthing and raising of children of their own. There is nothing I want more than for my family to be as happy as possible.
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2 comments:
I have to agree with you here. Imagine the confusion in society where children have to "decide" what gender they are. It was so simple when boys were boys and girls were girls. Isn't life hard enough without having to question the basics?
Most of those who claim the degenerative effects of the gay-rights movement never attempt to explain how and the method of causation. That you do, I like. But I don't buy your argument for the following reason(s):
To start with, I disagree that designating something as “natural” leads to people denying underlying causes. The study of science would seem to disprove this. Simply, just because something is, doesn't mean we don't care why. Even if we would be denying underlying causes, I'm unsure why this is a negative from a practical standpoint. That is, it's unclear why ignoring the causes would be detrimental to society.
It seems as if your argument is, essentially, that “my kids will have to consider the possibility that they are gay, and this will make them unhappy.” I would agree with this, for two reasons. First, the questioning of your personal identity is painful because your personal identity is the basis for our decisions, outlook, and actions. Questioning this core also calls into question all other accepted beliefs and existential or metaphysical crisis may fallow. Second, the predominant “orientation,” as you mention, is that of heterosexuality. And given the divisive nature of the issue, those who tend to be on each edge are extreme. Being an outlier does not, usually, lead to happiness and it would be harder with this issue.
However(s): First, I'm not sure that “happiness” is the best measure by which to judge a “lived life.” I think you would agree: would you prefer your child to be happy buy living a sinful life, or unhappy but righteous life? (Of course, some may think that this wouldn't/couldn't happen, but it's simply a thought experiment.) In fact, there's very little reason to believe that “happiness” is the primary goal in life of most people. (Consider Nozick's Experience Machine thought experiment. (Blogger won't let me include a link, but you can find a summary on wikipedia.))
Second, if we will wish to keep people (or just our kids) from experiencing a crisis of personal identity, then we should cease to question any thing that would cause that crisis. I think we can agree that religion and religious involvement is something that is, for most people, integral to personal identity. Thus, missionary work, for example, by virtue of causing questioning of basic personal characteristics, should not occur, since it causes unnecessary crises. I wouldn't want to say missionary work should be stopped (and I have a feeling you wouldn't, either), so I am unwilling to say that questioning of personal identity is always bad.
Third, you say: “These forced considerations, combined with the fact that it will be a controversial and therefore a common topic, will probably cause many children to develop same-sex tendencies where they otherwise would not have.” I'm unclear about the “probably,” “many,” and “otherwise” in that statement. Would you please explain that method of causation here and why it will affect “many” people who would “otherwise” be straight instead of just isolated cases?
Fourth, why are inter-gender relationships happier than intra-gender relationships? The one argument that I can pull from your post is that they will be able to experience the birthing and raising of their own children. First, the standard questions: (a) adoption? (b) infertility? Additionally, each individual in an intra-gender relationship still has the ability to “birth” and “raise” their own child, even if the couple cannot do so with the same child. Further, I question what you mean by “own child” vis-a-vis the adoption question. Is a child your “own” only if it has the same genetic make-up as you? What if I would have a child but it's raised by another—is it still my “own” child? If this is the reasons why straight relationships are better than gay relationships, this question really needs, at least, an adequate answer. If you believe there are other reasons why straight relationships are better than gay relationships, I'd love to hear them.
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