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{"id":2288,"date":"2015-06-29T18:56:13","date_gmt":"2015-06-30T00:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=2288"},"modified":"2015-06-29T18:56:13","modified_gmt":"2015-06-30T00:56:13","slug":"talking-past-each-other-on-same-sex-marriage-and-polygamy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/talking-past-each-other-on-same-sex-marriage-and-polygamy.html","title":{"rendered":"Talking past each other on same-sex marriage and polygamy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Here\u2019s the current debate (e.g., in comments to my post on polygamy<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Progressives to traditionalists: \u00a0\u201cMarriage is all about love, so its unjust, immoral, and unconstitutional to deny the opportunity to marry to same-sex couples.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traditionalists to progressives: \u00a0\u201cYour rationale for supporting same-sex marriage is clearly wrong, as demonstrated by the fact that it leaves no room for objecting to polygamy. \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes not!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes so!\u201d<\/p>\n

etc.<\/p>\n

But this debate is based on two alternate understandings of marriage:<\/p>\n

For traditionalists, marriage has a fundamental meaning, based on natural law, if you will, or on the basic functions of marriage. \u00a0This meaning, primarily concerned with the upbringing of children, extends beyond one single time and place, even if the particulars of marriage varied from place to place.<\/p>\n

For progressives, marriage is nothing more than a social construct, which each society is free to define as they choose, so long as no one is discriminated against (at least with respect to any sort of \u201cprotected class\u201d). \u00a0Beyond the restriction of \u201cno discrimination\u201d, the particular parameters can be determined by social consensus or by legislation, and can be as arbitrary as for any other sort of institution, such as, for instance, regulations around corporations.<\/p>\n

Traditionalists, on the other hand, once their meaning of marriage has been upended, still demand that, if marriage has redefined, it nonetheless ought to hold to some set of principles.<\/p>\n

Progressives don\u2019t really care whether there is any deeply philosophical ground for limiting marriage to two persons, rather than three or more. \u00a0It\u2019s arbitrary, and if the consensus (or the consensus among progressives) later moved from two to three or more (which may well happen), that\u2019s fine too.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s that. \u00a0Let\u2019s move on.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"