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{"id":3481,"date":"2012-06-11T15:09:49","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T19:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=3481"},"modified":"2013-01-16T01:10:48","modified_gmt":"2013-01-16T06:10:48","slug":"are-civil-rights-asymmetrical-blogathon-712","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/06\/are-civil-rights-asymmetrical-blogathon-712.html","title":{"rendered":"Are Civil Rights Asymmetrical? [Blogathon 7\/12]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the last two posts, I was focusing on what kind of data<\/em> would make us think that gay marriage was a bad idea, but I think there\u2019s a different question lurking in the background. \u00a0Why are we only asking queer folk to submit to an empirical evaluation of their marriage potential? \u00a0After all, we could hypothetically do a big analysis every decade or so and bar certain demographic groups from marriage based on the results.<\/p>\n

In this dystopia, I imagine that groups could earn back marriage rights by putting up good numbers in the couple of states that retained marriage rights for them as a federally mandated pilot program. \u00a0Obviously, in this world DOMA would be expanded so that states would be required <\/em>to not give full faith and credit to any out of state marriage, if it wasn\u2019t allowed nationally. \u00a0Note: there\u2019s a methodological problem here (aside from a couple constitutional ones). \u00a0The answer\u2019s at the bottom.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of reasons this policy would give us the heebie-jeebies, but part of it seems to be that we\u2019re a lot more comfortable withholding new rights than curtailing pre-existing ones. \u00a0Is this a reasonable preference? \u00a0At any particular moment, the impact is the same: people who believe themselves to be entitled to a certain kind of recognition are denied it.<\/p>\n

But there are larger scale effects. \u00a0Perhaps we think that out of a Chestertonian conservatism, we should be hesitant to contradict the democracy of the dead and should wait until further delay is almost\u00a0universally\u00a0regarded as\u00a0embarrassing.<\/p>\n

You could also make the case that dragging our feet on the expansion of rights makes it more likely those rights will never be revoked, once given. \u00a0Granting any right when it is likely to be revoked after the next election cycle\/Supreme Court appointment makes it more likely that it will be revoked, and that it becomes more\u00a0conceivable\u00a0to revisit other civil rights decisions. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure this is good tactics, or that we couldn\u2019t move a little faster and still be fairly safe. \u00a0Your thoughts?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Answer to methodology question<\/em>: Sampling bias. \u00a0The maritally-restricted couples who did<\/em> marry during the testing years would have had to uproot themselves and move to states in the pilot programs. \u00a0Their high commitment to marriage means you\u2019d expect them to have better than average results than their demographic group.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"