Brigham Young University law professor Lynn Wardle writes in a June 23 CNSNews.com column about how the number of same-sex marriages has leveled off following an initial burst after the Supreme Court ruling legalizing them across the country. Then he goes on to make some really bizarre conclusions from that:
In other words, there has been a novelty “blip” in the number of same-sex marriages. But in just one year, the novelty of same-sex marriage has worn off and the increase in the number of same-sex couples getting married has tapered off.
The Post notes also that the Gallup analysts predict that growth in same-sex marriages in the future will be a long-term, low-growth process because many supports of same-sex marriage are too young to marry now.
Of course, novelty fads appeal to the young. For example, from the 1920s through the mid-1950s communism was a popular movement among many naïve and young Americans. But as people mature, their naïveté usually diminishes or disappears. That is why communism never gained significant political influence in the United States. By the time young persons were old enough to vote, they saw the situation differently than they did when they were immature.
First: Wardle doesn’t seem to understand that a initial burst then a leveling off is arguably the pattern for many things that, like gay marriage, suddenly became obtainable after a lengthy period of it not being available.
Second: Gay marriage is a “fad” like communism? Really? Does this mean all gays are communists? We’re confused.
Wardle goes on to insist that there are “negative consequences for individuals, families and society resulting from same-sex marriage,” stating: “Many abandoned opposite-sex spouses (especially wives) have been seriously harmed by same-sex marriage. Many children have been severely disadvantaged by one or both parents leaving a traditional marriage for same-sex relationships, or from being raised by same-sex couples.”
But if same-sex relationships are treated as valid as opposite-sex relationships, such behavior would decrease because gays would feel much less societal pressure to enter a marriage that conflicts with his or her orientation.
Wardle’s a law professor, and these arguments never occurred to him? And the bizarre ones he wrote about did?