Otago Daily Times 10 August 2012
Bruce Logan warns about what he sees as the dangers in same-sex marriage.
Here in France, like New Zealand, same-sex marriage is presented to a puzzled population under the banner of equality. And who can fight against equality?
Well, some French friends put the notion of equality under examination. They say same-sex marriage “n’est pas l’egalite, il s’agit de la liberte”. It’s not about equality; it’s about liberty.
Governments who choose to redefine marriage seldom understand what they’re doing. “Il a toute la laideur de la fierte.” It has all the ugliness of pride.
The issue is not about equality or the success of any one couple’s marriage. The issue is about the connection between the state and marriage in civil society. Who decides what marriage is and what it’s for?
Marriage is neither essentially religious nor a product of tradition. It is not the child of the state.
Neither is marriage what Lynne Featherstone, the British Equalities Minister, claims. “Marriage is a right of passage for couples who want to show they are in a committed relationship, for people who want to show they have found love and wish to remain together until death do them part.” Her historical vision is limited; her logic is deficient and her fusion of the Anglican Prayer Book with modern idiom disingenuous.
Marriage is the consequence of who we are.
We do not make it; it makes us. We are male and female.
http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/220943/its-about-liberty-not-equality-french-say
