{"id":1771,"date":"2012-02-07T11:41:10","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T16:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=1771"},"modified":"2012-12-03T17:24:41","modified_gmt":"2012-12-03T22:24:41","slug":"debating-gay-marriage-index-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/02\/debating-gay-marriage-index-post.html","title":{"rendered":"Debating Gay Marriage [Index Post]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a controversy brewing at my alma mater. \u00a0As the kickoff to\u00a0True Love Week<\/a> (meant to contrast with the concurrently running Sex Week at Yale<\/a>), organizers invited Professor\u00a0Anthony Esolen<\/a> of Providence College\u00a0to speak on \u201cThe Person as a Gift.\u201d \u00a0A few days before the keynote, IvyGate publicized Esolen\u2019s fervent writings about the destructive power of gay marriage<\/a>. \u00a0Activists on campus organized a kiss-in<\/a> and then marched out of Esolen\u2019s talk.<\/p>\n

I disapprove of demonstrations that interrupt speakers, if any other alternative is possible. \u00a0I think the kiss-in would be better timed if it\u00a0occurred\u00a0before Esolen began or at the conclusion of his remarks. \u00a0And if you\u2019ve come to protest a controversial speaker, it is poor form to walk out of the talk. \u00a0We deplore that kind of behavior when it\u2019s the other side doing it and robbing us of our ability to change their minds. \u00a0I agree with Minhal Baig<\/a>, who wrote in The Yale Daily News<\/em> today:<\/p>\n

The impolite spectacle did not make me any more sympathetic to the talk; nor did the lackluster talk make me any more sympathetic to the spectacle\u2026 [T]he demonstrators had no seriousness in purpose; the kiss-in was an effort to defeat Esolen\u2019s arguments not in a discursive manner but through visceral exhibitionism. It made no argument but this: We think you\u2019re wrong, and we don\u2019t like what you have to say.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A number of my friends got into an extended fight on facebook over whether Esolen\u2019s views on gay marriage and homosexuality disqualified him to speak at Yale. \u00a0Choosing not to give someone a platform is not the same thing as abrogating their free speech, and it can be productive to debate community norms on acceptable speech. \u00a0However, as everyone got more engaged in this metadebate, Esolen\u2019s content was obscured.<\/p>\n

One conservative friend of mine, Matthew Gerken, accused folks on my side of the gay marriage debate of shying away from the strongest arguments of the opposition. \u00a0So I\u2019ve invited him to\u00a0summarize\u00a0those arguments as a guest poster to this blog. \u00a0His first post will go up this afternoon, and I\u2019ll respond on Wednesday. \u00a0All posts in this series will be listed below, for ease of reference.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll add that I know Matthew personally, and I know he does not speak from malevolence, but from honest disagreement. \u00a0So skip the comments impugning his character. \u00a0If you think (like I do) that he\u2019s wrong, nail him on the content.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Gay Marriage and Male Friendship<\/a> \u2013 Matt\u2019s opening sortie. \u00a0Does legitimizing gay marriage sexualize platonic friendships?<\/li>\n
  2. Weighing the Consequences of Gay Marriage<\/a> \u2013 My first reply to Matt. \u00a0Any major cultural change has collateral damage, so how do we minimize it and balance it against the reforms we seek.<\/li>\n
  3. When Men Treat Men Like Men Treat Women<\/a> \u2013 Part two of my reply to Matt. \u00a0Why are we acting as though balancing friendship and sexual tension is a new problem?<\/li>\n
  4. Leah\u2019s Handy Guide to Not Letting Eros<\/em> Destroy Philia<\/em><\/a> \u2013 Debating gay marriage\/giving relationship advice is like tomato\/tomahto, right?<\/li>\n
  5. Divorce and the Doctrine of Individualism<\/a> \u2013 Matt debut\u2019s his second argument: affirming gay marriage entrenches everything wrong with modern marriage<\/li>\n
  6. Whaddya Wanna Get Married For?<\/a> \u2013 Pitching Matt and everyone else on the secular cousin of sacramental marriage: gay covenant marriage<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    There\u2019s a controversy brewing at my alma mater. \u00a0As the kickoff to\u00a0True Love Week (meant to contrast with the concurrently running Sex Week at Yale), organizers invited Professor\u00a0Anthony Esolen of Providence College\u00a0to speak on \u201cThe Person as a Gift.\u201d \u00a0A few days before the keynote, IvyGate publicized Esolen\u2019s fervent writings about the destructive power of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[196,16],"tags":[74,11],"class_list":["post-1771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marriage-2","category-sequence-index","tag-anthony-esolen-yale","tag-lgbt"],"yoast_head":"\nDebating Gay Marriage [Index Post]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There's a controversy brewing at my alma mater. \u00a0As the kickoff to\u00a0True Love Week 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