{"id":85833,"date":"2022-06-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nursingstudybay.com\/2022\/06\/09\/an-analysis-of-arguments-against-gay-marriage-philosophy-essay\/"},"modified":"2022-06-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T00:00:00","slug":"an-analysis-of-arguments-against-gay-marriage-philosophy-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/an-analysis-of-arguments-against-gay-marriage-philosophy-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"An Analysis Of Arguments Against Gay Marriage Philosophy Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Study Bay Coursework Assignment Writing Help<\/p>\n<p>Gay marriage has been one of the most controversial subjects in the American 21st Century. Different opinions about whether it\u2019s immoral, wrong, and illogical by religious leaders and those who oppose it have cast a black shadow on homosexuals and their supporters. Arguments such as gay marriage will undermine the institution of marriage, marriage is for having children, and gay couples are simply unnatural are some of the most common arguments against the marriage of gay couples. But is the hate towards the institution of gay marriage really because of God or fear of the untraditional? Or is it more of a deeper seated means for people to hate those who are different than themselves?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A common argument against legalizing same-sex marriages is that doing so would undermine the institution of marriage. For some reason, a marriage between members of the same sex is a self-contradiction and, if their unions are legalized, then marriage itself across the country will be harmed. But upon what basis is such an argument made? It certainly seems like an ridiculous claim \u2013 how are we to make any sense out of the idea that a legal marriage between Joe and Jim could have any negative impact upon a legal marriage between John and Mary, much less undermine the marriage between John and Mary? What we must remember is that opponents of same-sex marriage are generally thinking less of legal marriage in the secular sense and more of holy wedloc\u201d in the religious sense.<\/p>\n<p>If marriage is a holy sacrament of a sacred religious institution, then it becomes easier to understand how a union that is regarded as an immoral abomination would cause problems. It would, after all, represent a form of desecration and that would be viewed as undermining a holy institution. Although these religious reasons allow us to make sense out of the claim, that doesn\u2019t mean that the argument is valid \u2013 the religious arguments against gay marriage are unacceptable in a society \u201csupposedly\u201d based upon secular laws.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0 Are there secular reasons for thinking that gay marriages might undermine the institution of marriage? If there are, they should be taken seriously. If society\u2019s goal is to support and encourage marriage, then naturally it shouldn\u2019t do anything that would only serve to harm marriage overall. Unfortunately for opponents of same-sex marriages, there don\u2019t appear to be valid secular reasons for thinking that allowing gay couples to marry will have any damaging effects on marriage generally. Some claim that it will undermine the idea that marriage exists for having and raising children. Others argue that gay people are less committed to monogamy than straight people, but if the government validates them legally, then others in society will be sent the message that gay unions are just as valid as one where the commitment is strong. This claim undermines marriage because it undermines a central and essential facet of marriage: two people entering into a strong, committed relationship with one another. Society is therefore justified in not granting legal recognition to a class of relationships that will predictably be less faithful, less committed, and more fragile. Gays don\u2019t make up more than 10% of all people in society. This doesn\u2019t seem like a large enough number to conclude that marriage would be harmed. If it were, and if that were a good enough reason to ban gay marriages, then we have a much better reason to ban divorce \u2013 some 50% of all marriages end in divorce, after all, and it seems like an even stronger claim to say that allowing people to easily dissolve a marriage is ultimately bad for marriage as an institution. Funny, ironically enough, that the most vocal opponents of gay unions aren\u2019t campaigning in defense of marriage by trying to ban divorces.<\/p>\n<p>Another common argument is the idea that gay couples can\u2019t marry because of the disconnect between homosexuality and procreation. Gay marriage would be \u201cunnatural\u201d because it can\u2019t produce children, the natural end of marriage. Gay marriage would undermine marriage because it is a legal and moral institution designed to promote and protect procreation and raising of children. Gay marriage would desecrate God\u2019s mandate that heterosexual couples have to mate and procreate. Is any of this true, and if so, does it matter? Consider the assumption that the \u201cnatural\u201d end of marriage (or sex in general) is procreation, and that therefore non-procreative gay couples cannot reasonably be allowed to marry. There are two ways this can be refuted: by showing what its logical conclusions would be if actively employed, and by taking apart its philosophical basis.<\/p>\n<p>Case and point, infertile couples. First, if we were to take this argument seriously, we would have to radically change marriage laws. No infertile couples would be allowed to marry \u2013 this would include both younger people who are infertile due to health issues as well as older people who are infertile due to age. Who would agree to that?<\/p>\n<p>It is curious that the opprobrium heaped upon gays who want to marry is not also directed upon elderly people who want to marry, indicating that the problem cannot possibly stem from people\u2019s disapproval of a couple that won\u2019t be having children. Consider people\u2019s reactions when someone gets married for reasons other than love, like: citizenship, money, or social status. This indicates that society regards love as the basis for marrying, not producing children.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0 If we were to enforce the idea that marriage exists for the sake of having and raising children, wouldn\u2019t we prohibit couples from remaining childless voluntarily? Even if we didn\u2019t outlaw both contraception and abortion, we would have to take steps to ensure that all married couples not be childless: if they won\u2019t produce their own kids, they will have to adopt some of the many orphaned and abandoned children currently without stable homes and families. Since we don\u2019t see anyone arguing for such outrageous measures, we must conclude that opponents of same-sex marriage don\u2019t take that principle as seriously as they seem; and because such measures are so outrageous, we have good reason not to take it seriously either.<\/p>\n<p>A second flaw is that it makes a fetish out of biological functions. Since when do people tailor their activities based solely or even primarily upon what they imagine the biological ends to be? Who gets married solely to have children and not to pursue a meaningful and intimate relationship with someone they love? Who eats food solely in order to ingest nutrition and not to enjoy the social and psychological experiences that accompany a good meal?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0One third argument made against gay marriage is the idea that gay marriage is wrong because gay couples are somehow unnatural. It is not often stated openly, but it influences other arguments and lies behind many people\u2019s negative opinions about homosexuality. For most people, heterosexual relationships are the norm, both in society and in nature. Homosexual relationships are thus abnormal and unnatural; therefore, they shouldn\u2019t be validated by the state nor recognized as a form of marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Such arguments are superficially effective because they try to harness the power of apparently neutral and objective categories like \u201cnature\u201d and \u201cnatural\u201d in support of one\u2019s position. In this manner a person can try to slough off accusations of bigotry and intolerance because, after all, it\u2019s just a matter of factual observation as to what is and is not a proper part of the natural order and\/or what is mandated by natural law. It\u2019s no more bigoted or intolerant than observing that dropped objects fall down rather than up, or that bears mate with other bears rather than with deer.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0 In reality, however, claims about the natural order or natural law only end up being masks for religious, political, or social prejudices \u2013 including those that rise to level of bigotry. The philosophical veneer might at times be impressive, but we must not fail to look beneath the surface in order to understand what the real ideas and arguments are. One means for doing that is to ask the not-so-easy question of just what is meant by \u201cnatural\u201d and \u201cunnatural.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A common and simplistic meaning is that heterosexual relationships are \u201cnatural\u201d because that is what we find in nature, whereas we don\u2019t find homosexual relationships. The latter are therefore unnatural and should not be validated by society. There are many possible objections to this. First, humans are obviously a part of nature, so if humans have homosexual relationships, is that not therefore a part of nature? Second, we don\u2019t find animals entering into legal marriage contracts with one another \u2013 does that mean that legal marriage as an institution is \u201cunnatural\u201d and should be eliminated?<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes the argument that homosexual relationships and homosexuality are \u201cunnatural\u201d might be meant in the sense that it doesn\u2019t really flow from \u201chuman nature\u201d in its raw state, untainted by civilization. Presumably this is supposed to mean that if it weren\u2019t for the society around us, no one would be gay \u2013 we\u2019d only ever want to mate with or have intimate relationships with members of the opposite sex.<\/p>\n<p>There is no evidence offered to back this up \u2013 not even false evidence. Yet even if we accept that it is true, so what? The mere fact that humans wouldn\u2019t do something when in a \u201cstate of nature\u201d outside the confines of civilization is absolutely no reason to conclude that they also shouldn\u2019t do it when living within civilization. We wouldn\u2019t drive cars or use computers outside of the structures of civilizations, so should we stop doing them while a part of society?<\/p>\n<p>Very often the argument that homosexual relationships are \u201cunnatural\u201d is meant to describe the fact that they do not and cannot lead to the creation of children, which is supposed to be the \u201cnatural\u201d consequence of such intimate relationships, especially marriage. This argument also isn\u2019t effective, but the relationship between marriage and raising children was addressed in more detail before.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the \u201chomosexuality is unnatural\u201d argument fails to support the case against same-sex marriage because there is no clear and convincing content to the concept of \u201cunnatural\u201d in the first place. Everything that is claimed to be \u201cunnatural\u2019 is either arguably very natural, arguably irrelevant to what the laws should be, or is simply immaterial to what should be treated as moral and immoral. It\u2019s no coincidence that what is \u201cunnatural\u201d also happens to be condemned by speakers\u2019 religious or cultural traditions. Just because some trait or activity isn\u2019t the norm among humans doesn\u2019t make it \u201cunnatural\u201d and therefore wrong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Study Bay Coursework Assignment Writing Help Gay marriage has been one of the most controversial subjects in the American 21st Century. Different opinions about whether\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7822,7724,7820,7548,7826,8080,8079,8077,8078,8081,7605],"tags":[103,95,83,94,80,86,79,98,93,104,7647,99,92,82,102,85,8,101,97,87,96,91,89,90,88,100,1402,84,6940,81],"class_list":["post-85833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-dissertation-writing-service-uk","category-best-dissertation-writing-services","category-dissertation-title-generator","category-dissertation-writing-services-cost","category-dissertation-writing-services-in-usa","category-master-thesis-writing-service","category-online-thesis-writing-services","category-phd-dissertation-help-and-editing-helper-in-usa","category-professional-dissertation-writing-service","category-write-my-dissertation","category-writing-dissertation-and-grant-proposals","tag-150-200-words-discussion-with-a-scholarly-reference","tag-200-300-words-response-to-classmate-discussion-question","tag-250-word-analysis-essay","tag-bachelor-of-nursing-assignments","tag-case-study","tag-essay-bishops-website","tag-expert-online-nursing-writing-service","tag-fast-nursing-papers","tag-freelance-case-study-writing-service","tag-health-medicine-assignment-help-australia","tag-health-care-an","tag-health-care-assignment-help-service","tag-healthcare-assignment-writing-services-by-top-writers","tag-healthcare-essay-writing-services-by-medical-academics","tag-healthcare-writing-help-by-certified-medical-academics","tag-i-need-to-submit-this-assignment","tag-medical-essay-writing-service","tag-nursing-assessment-help","tag-nursing-assignment-help","tag-nursing-assignment-help-australia","tag-nursing-assignment-help-sydney","tag-nursing-assignment-writers","tag-nursing-assignments-examples-assignment-help-nursing","tag-pay-someone-to-do-my-nursing-assignment","tag-professional-case-study-writers","tag-quality-nursing-essay-writing-service","tag-write-a-paper","tag-write-a-review","tag-write-an-essay","tag-writing-assignment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85833\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}