California Supreme Court's Decision
So the big story this week in the San Francisco Chronicle is obviously the decision of the California Supreme Court to declare any ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. And the majority opinion was written by a conservative first appointed by Ronald Reagan when he was governor, then by Pete Woods. Fine and dandy. I'm glad this happened but I'm more interested in the dissenting opinion. Here's what Marvin Baxter wrote:
As usual, the resort to (Western civilization) tradition, which is quite expected from ultra-conservative circles (when I write "ultra-conservative," read "conservative."). We don't need to delve into comparative religion to point at what's missing.
But isn't the notion of "tradition" usually presented "contemporary" as well? So what matters most in a court of law? A "contemporary notion of tradition" or "contemporary notions of equality and justice"? Then let's apply this to this silly notion that this is a "Christian nation."* Or that English should be the official language of the United States (because, in that case, you're all screwed anyway, if you really want to be traditional)**.
And since you are all so obsessed with the Founding Fathers, have you ever seen them scream "Tradition! Tradition!"?
*(And well, no, I am not forgetting that Western secularism comes from a certain reaction to Christianity)
**I mean, just have a look at the success of those contemporary American English translations of Shakespeare ...
The court doesn't have the right to erase, then recast, the age-old definition of marriage, as virtually all societies have understood it, in order to satisfy its own contemporary notions of equality and justice.
As usual, the resort to (Western civilization) tradition, which is quite expected from ultra-conservative circles (when I write "ultra-conservative," read "conservative."). We don't need to delve into comparative religion to point at what's missing.
But isn't the notion of "tradition" usually presented "contemporary" as well? So what matters most in a court of law? A "contemporary notion of tradition" or "contemporary notions of equality and justice"? Then let's apply this to this silly notion that this is a "Christian nation."* Or that English should be the official language of the United States (because, in that case, you're all screwed anyway, if you really want to be traditional)**.
And since you are all so obsessed with the Founding Fathers, have you ever seen them scream "Tradition! Tradition!"?
*(And well, no, I am not forgetting that Western secularism comes from a certain reaction to Christianity)
**I mean, just have a look at the success of those contemporary American English translations of Shakespeare ...
Comments