Dominion Post 26 October 2011
Deborah Russell says the state has no business in the marriage game, but then argues that the state should redefine marriage to allow same-sex marriage.
Marriages are a matter of significant public concern, as the record of almost every culture shows. If it weren’t for the fact that sexual intercourse between a man and a woman leads to children and brings with it a further obligation to care for those children, the notion of marriage would probably never have existed.
Marriage encourages the raising of children by the mother and father who conceived them. On average, children raised by their biological parents who are married have the best outcomes in health, education and income, and by far the lowest involvement with the criminal justice system.
Russell then argues that denying same-sex marriage is “discriminatory” and “reinforces the power of traditional churches by endorsing their morality”.
