This evening I listened to Ryan Anderson's outstanding lecture on marriage. Just as the pro-life movement had to counter the pro-abortion movement with cogent argumentation with the result that young people today are more pro-life than their parents, so the hard work of rebuilding the social and moral foundations of our country must continue with regard to marriage. Ryan Anderson's clear-headed analysis and arguments constitute the place to begin.
The following talk was given recently at Union University. The lecture begins around the 7:15 mark.
Justin Taylor writes:
Here is his argument in a nutshell:
Marriage is based on:
- the truth that men and women are complementary,
- the biological fact that reproduction depends on a man and a woman, and
- the reality that children need a mother and a father.
Redefining marriage does not simply expand the existing understanding of marriage; it rejects these truths.
Marriage is society’s least restrictive means of ensuring the well-being of children.
By encouraging the norms of marriage—monogamy, sexual exclusivity, and permanence—the state strengthens civil society and reduces its own role.
The future of this country depends on the future of marriage.
The future of marriage depends on citizens understanding what it is and why it matters and demanding that government policies support, not undermine, true marriage.
To see these arguments in written form, see Anderson’s essays on Marriage: What It Is, Why It Matters, and the Consequences of Redefining It, and The Supreme Court and the Future of Marriage, and The Social Costs of Abandoning the Meaning of Marriage.