Whats the purpose of marriage? Who will create a nurturing, stable environment for children?
A friend stopped by my desk the other day, and voiced what may be majority opinion in Canada on the same-sex marriage debate. “The really embarrassing thing is the pathetic quality of the arguments,” he said, sadly shaking his head. “On both sides. The whole quality of the debate’s been embarrassing, embarrassing to the whole country. It’s been just plain stupid.” In early February, the Parliament of Canada will debate legislation to include “same-sex couples” within the law of marriage. Yet the public debate has largely been dominated by radical homosexuals, on one side, and traditional Christians, on the other. Both sides have talked right past each other, and public civility has been caught in a No-Man’s Land between. Nobody wins, if the current debate contributes to a destruction of public civility. Laws multiply, continually and often uselessly, but as Aristotle said, “real legislators concern themselves more with the friendliness of their fellow citizens.” No weight of law can ou
