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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Marriage is Transformative.

"To treat marriage simply as the seal set upon a (possibly fleeting) sexual relationship, rather than a mutual assumption of the burden of social reproduction, is to deprive the institution of its rationale."

-- Roger Scruton, professor of philosphy at the University of Buckingham, writing in The Meaning of Marriage, 2006.

The marital relationship is transformative. The man makes the woman his wife and the woman makes the man her husband. In the normal course of things, husbands and wives become fathers and mothers. Their children become the next generation of men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers.

The SSM idea, as a replacement for the marriage idea, is intended to be transformative of society in ways that are unjustified and unwelcomed. And, yes, for some well-meaning supporters of SSM, also unintended.

The following is series of blogposts that were prompted by my reading (and re-reading) a chapter in "The Meaning of Marriage" (2006), by Roger Scruton. (See blogpost #6 for more details.

1. First and foremost a social institution.

2. Same as marriage but different from the rest?

3. Leave us alone and treat us special.

4. Patched together from remnants and self-referential dogma.

5. Trojan Horse. Where's the threat?

6. Marriage shapes the motive for joining it.

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