Polygamy is no longer an outlier for many social scientists, and much serious work has already been done laying the groundwork for its defense (see here, as well as this recent Slate article arguing for it). Polygamy, however, is small potatoes. Polyamory, the idea that many persons sexually involved with one another should be able to accrue government support, benefits, and legal structure to assist in their lifestyle, has a serious academic following (see here and here ; also note it’s happening in Brazil here). And what about the many “gay marriage” advocates in academia who admit that they want to get rid of – move “beyond” – traditional marriage altogether? (see here and here) What about those in the gay rights movement – not a small number – who believe the “next step” should be to help straight people get over their obsession – the hypocritical obsession! – with monogamous marriage? (see here and here and here). And what about the fact that for many, their conception of “civil rights”, grounded on just what I do not know, is the card that would trump all factual reality? In other words, whether or not children in general do better with a mom and a dad, to take one example, is irrelevant (see here – so what is the point of insisting that conservatives provide evidence that pornography is harmful?). Jerry Sandusky aside, pedophilia has been gradually losing its stigma – as long as it is done ethically of course! – and there have been serious academic books written defending it (see here and here; interesting related links here and here).
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Where are the “sexual outliers” now?
From infant theologian Nathan Rinne:
Justification of evil involves dismantling the ideology that would make anything evil to the point where the only thing considered evil is calling anything evil. That, of course, is incoherent. But incoherence has never stopped anyone from self-justification.
ReplyDeletePretty much
DeleteSomething to keep in mind is that the polygamy movement, the pedophilia movement, and such can make a lot of progress without popular support. Judges can act as legislators, as they often do, to bring about changes at some of the highest levels of society that favor the movements in question. As more and more judges do that, with the assistance of other parts of society (academia, Hollywood, etc.), public support will eventually increase.
ReplyDeleteOpponents of homosexual marriage have often made the mistake of placing too much emphasis on appeals to tradition and polls. That mistake should be avoided as we address polygamy and these other issues that are gaining prominence since the mainstreaming of homosexual marriage. Tradition and polls don't have much evidential value. And the American people have proven that they're undiscerning enough to allow their opinions on such significant issues to change rapidly for no good reason. If you appeal to anti-polygamy polling this year, you may be faced with opponents who present you with pro-polygamy polling five or fifteen years from now.