I entered into a cognitive reverie yesterday and the most delightfully revealing thought experiment entered into my head. It has to do with drawing moral lines. By using the liberal arguments for amorality against a hypothetical proponent of gay "marriage", our proponent ends up hitting a wall.
So here's the thought experiment: a pro-gay "marriage" lad, who happens to be called Bob in my reverie, is taking a walk through a park where he runs into a most intriguing personage named Fred. Their discourse went as follows:
BOB: Hey, Fred!
FRED: Hey Bob, what's up?
BOB: Not much. Hey, are you voting for that gay marriage amendment on Election Day, you know, the one defining marriage as between both heterosexual and homosexual couples? It will finally let people who love each other get 'married' and give them the 'rights' they've so longed for!
FRED: Heck yea, man. Freedom from bigotry. True equality! But I don't think the amendment goes far enough. What if, like, a buncha' people love each other? Like, a buncha' dudes? Why shouldn't they get married? That's not fair.
BOB: Oh, well...Yeah. I guess so. Yeah, maybe they should be allowed to.
FRED: Yeah. You know what used to be 'in' and should come back? That thing where one guy has a bunch of wives. Yeah, polygamy!
BOB: Uh, well... That's a little weird.
FRED: Why's that weird? If they love each other, why not? I mean, why should only gays get to marry? Are you saying polygamists don't have rights? Are you imposing your morality on me?
BOB: Well no, dude. That's just a little weird, don't you think? I mean, gays should get rights but the polygamy thing is weird.
FRED: Why's it so weird? One man, many women! Why limit people? We're a nation of liberty! Stop pushing your morals on me, dude! I mean, if I love my mom that much, well, dude, why not?
BOB: You're joking, right? You're talking about in-...
FRED: Yeah man! Nothing is greater than love! We should be more open and inclusive, and less divisive. Why should your definition of love be pushed on me?
BOB: Well...No...It shouldn't. But, that's disgusting.
FRED: If I think it's ok, it's ok! Don't tell me it's disgusting you bigot! It's just different!
As we can see, the Pandora's box that Bob initially opened ultimately swallows him whole, as he finds himself in a moral no-man's-land where he can't say why incest is taboo and polygamy is disgusting, etc. He finds that his initial moral judgment has opened a can of worms and that it comes back to haunt him. He learns that his moral judgment is arbitrary and that he can consequently make no real moral judgments.
It seems that the only moral judgment that is not arbitrary with regard to marriage is that most natural one: that marriage is between one man and one woman in a union of love which alone is capable of bearing new life.
Case closed!
+ TRIDUUM +
Initium sancti EvangélII secúndum Joánnem...
In principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat Verbum 2 hoc erat in principio apud Deum 3 omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ipso factum est nihil quod factum est 4 in ipso vita erat et vita erat lux hominum 5 et lux in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt
6 fuit homo missus a Deo cui nomen erat Iohannes 7 hic venit in testimonium ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine ut omnes crederent per illum 8 non erat ille lux sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine 9 erat lux vera quae inluminat omnem hominem venientem in mundum 10 in mundo erat et mundus per ipsum factus est et mundus eum non cognovit
11 in propria venit et sui eum non receperunt 12 quotquot autem receperunt eum dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri his qui credunt in nomine eius 13 qui non ex sanguinibus neque ex voluntate carnis neque ex voluntate viri sed ex Deo nati sunt 14 ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST et habitavit in nobis et vidimus gloriam eius gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre plenum gratiae et veritatis+ Prayer Requests and Intentions + Updated 5 Nov.
+ Blessed Mother Mary Ever-Virgin; Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Rafael; the communion of all Saints, and all holy men and women: pray for us... +
-For our Holy Father, H.H. Pope Benedict XVI
-For our Bishops and Priests, and all religious
-For our Holy Mother Church, the Bride of Christ, for Her defense from the Enemy
-For an end to all abortions and for a renewed culture of life
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-For all our prayers, hear us.
-For all the faithful departed, especially Ramon and Willie, my grandfathers. Requiescant in pace.
-For our Holy Father, H.H. Pope Benedict XVI
-For our Bishops and Priests, and all religious
-For our Holy Mother Church, the Bride of Christ, for Her defense from the Enemy
-For an end to all abortions and for a renewed culture of life
-For an increase in vocations, particularly to the Holy Priesthood
-For all our prayers, hear us.
-For all the faithful departed, especially Ramon and Willie, my grandfathers. Requiescant in pace.
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2 comments:
Bingo! I'd love to see a pro-gay marriage person respond to this. How could they? Maybe they are for polygamy and incest... they're weird enough.
I really think this argument is irrefutable and can be quite handy for getting people to at least reflect on their erroneous beliefs.
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