Ethics

Marriage is Important. And Therefore...

By Ed Brayton

An attorney before a Court begins his argument:

We start with the proposition, on this connection, that it is the family which constitutes the structural element of society, and that marriage is the legal basis upon which families are formed. Consequently this court has held in numerous decisions over the years that society is structured on the institution of marriage; that it has more to do with the welfare and civilizations of a people than any other institutions; and that out of the fruits of marriage spring relationships and responsibilities with which the state is necessarily required to deal. Text writers and judicial writers agree that the state has a natural, direct and vital interest in maximizing the number of successful marriages which lead to stable homes and families, and in minimizing those which do not.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).