Essays in defense of traditional marriage

Catholic scholars Robert P. George and Jean Elshtain have put together a collection of essays, from scholars from many disciplines, defending traditional marriage, entitled The Meaning of Marriage: Family, State, Market, And Morals.  Table of Contents below. 

This volume brings together the best of contemporary scholarship on marriage from a variety of disciplines—history, ethics, economics, law and public policy, philosophy, sociology, psychiatry, political science—to inform, and reform, public debate. Rigorous yet accessible, these studies aim to rethink and re-present the case for marriage as a positive institution and ideal that is in the public interest and serves the common good.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Spellman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago and the Thomas and Dorothy Leavy Chair in the Foundations of American Freedom at Georgetown University

1 - "Sacrilege and Sacrament"
by Roger Scruton, professor of philosophy at the University of Buckingham

2 - "What About the Children? Liberal Cautions on Same- Sex Marriage"
by Don Browning, Alexander Campbell Professor Emeritus of Religious Ethics and the Social Sociences at the University of Chicago Divinity School and Elizabeth Marquardt, affiliate scholar at the Institute for American Values

3 - "Changing Dynamics of the Family in Recent European History"
by Harold James, professor of history at Princeton University

4 - "Why Unilateral Divorce Has No Place in a Free Society"
by Jennifer Roback Morse, research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University

5 - "The Framers' Idea of Marriage and Family"
by David F. Forte, Charles R. Emrick Jr.-Calfee, Halter & Griswold Endowed Professor of Law at Cleveland State University

6 - "The Family and the Laws"
by Hadley Arkes, Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions at Amherst College

7 - "What's Sex Got to do with It? Marriage, Morality, and Rationality"
by Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University

8 - "Soft Despotism and Same-Sex Marriage"
by Seana Sugrue, associate professor and chairman of the department of political science at Ave Maria University

9 - "(How) Does Marriage Protect Child Well-Being?"
by Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy

10 - "The Current Crisis in Marriage Law, Its Origins, and Its Impact"
by Katherine Shaw Spaht, Jules F. and Frances L. Landry Professor of Law at Louisiana State University

11 - "Suffer the Little Children: Marriage the Poor, and the Commonweal"
by W. Bradford Wilcox, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Virginia

Comments

[jurisnaturalist]

The whole idea of this is suspect to me. Are we trying to create a Christian culture where people who are not Christians act like Christians? How can that be good? And are we trying to enforce that kind of a culture using the coercive power of the state? So we are forcing people to be good?
That is not the same as forcing people not to be bad. Protection of rights and liberties and enforcement of contracts seem to be legitimate and biblical functions of the state. But that just means bringing justice to people who have been harmed. What books like the one advertised in this post advocate is something much different.
They are conservative in the sense of protecting the status quo and those who already enjoy a political privilege. Americans who are married enjoy a set of privileges which are not available to others who choose to enter into mutual contracts. They pay less in court transactions for issues such as estate planning, etc. They enjoy tax benefits. The marriage certificate is like a discount card married people get to use at the government store.
But should we encourage pagans to practice what is essentially a Christian covenant? Should we encourage pagans to baptized apart from genuine conversion? Should we encourage them to partake of communion though they have not inspected their souls and thus do so to their own harm?
No. All the discussion about preserving marriage is nothing more than protectionism by Christians over their discount coupon with the government. That is pure evil.

Nathanael Snow
ndsnow@gmail.com

[seeker]

The whole idea of this is suspect to me. Are we trying to create a Christian culture where people who are not Christians act like Christians? How can that be good?

That's a good question. There are good reasons to develop systematic theologies, as well as a Christian world view for every subject. But how to apply Christian principles (not expressly 'religious' principles) to society and law is another important topic.

Certain principles most certainly should become law, while others may require government neutrality. The whole role of government is spelled out in our constitution, which includes ensuring domestic tranquility, etc.

Regarding how we should legislate on absolute v. questionable moral issues, see Legislating in the Moral Gray Zone.

Understanding homosexuality and the family are important to the success of society. This book is written from across the disciplines in order to develop a comprehensive, integrated look at the role of teh family in individual and societal development, and how upsetting the traditional family upsets both individual and societal health.

[seeker]

And btw, these authors are not merely writing from the biblical perspective, but from the perspective of their various disciplines - even nature itself teaches us that homosexuality is not healthy or a normal variant.

And by "nature," I don't mean whether or not we see animals acting in a homosexual manner, but that the fact that gays can't procreate, that they have a higher incidence of mental health problems, not to mention higher morbidity and mortality rates, and that there are psychological models that explain homosexuality as a developmental disorder (which may also have genetic components) which lead to recovery models that have some (but limited) success in reversing same sex attractin, all argue WITHOUT biblical input that homosexuality is not healthy or normal. Additionally the fact that children need both gendered parents show that having gay parents is as normative and healthy as having just one - and no one calls single parenting a healthy alternative to a good hetero marriage.

But we've been around this tree many times, as the Gay & Lesbian will show.

What is remarkable about this book is that it attempts, not just to discourage people from norming homosexuality, but that it attempts to show from many academic disciplines that a lifetime, loving, hetero marriage is what is best for individuals and society. That is not just a Christian concept, but one that is reflected well in natural law and history.

[Louis]

More xian "charity" towards gay children. seeker should approve.

[Louis]

btw: Keith's Lenten practice of self-denial involves refraining from participating here. Mine is the opposite: I have decided that I must endure the hatred, ridicule, and just plain mean-spiritedness inherent in the conservative and orthodox xian tradition. After all, if Jesus could withstand and even grow spiritually from harsh persecution, so can I.