Robert George had a big hand in the paper I posted earlier this week from The Witherspoon Institute, and he has some pointed words today about the gay marriage decision in New York. You need to read the whole thing, but I thought his remarks about the worldviews of the two most significant political players in New York (Cuomo and Bloomberg) were spot-on. He writes:
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Passive Indifference about Gay Marriage
Conservative columnist James Taranto is “Exhibit A” of why gay marriage will eventually be legal in all 50 states. Those who might stand up in favor of marriage are simply shrinking back, and Taranto is among them. The GOP majority in the NY state senate is another case in point. There is a passive indifference on the part of these conservatives when it comes to social issues in general and to gay marriage in particular. Perhaps they would prefer that our laws only recognize traditional marriage, but no biggie if they don’t. Taranto represents this point of view really well. He writes:
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The Real Story behind NY Gay Marriage
If you missed Michael Barbaro’s report in yesterday’s New York Times about the road to gay marriage in New York, you really should take the time to read it. The public story until now has been that a few key Republicans responded to emotional appeals from gay couples who wished to be wed. Barbaro shows that this is not what really happened.
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Piper on Minnesota Marriage Amendment
You need to read what John Piper has to say about the proposed Minnesota marriage amendment, which would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Piper’s article would be helpful not only to Minnesotans, but also to anyone interested in understanding how Christians should think through the intersection of public policy and sexual ethics. Here’s an excerpt:
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Pre-abortion sonogram required under new Texas law
There’s good news on the pro-life front out of Texas. Governor Rick Perry just signed into law a bill that requires women seeking an abortion to have a sonogram before going through with the procedure. The law also requires a 24-hour wait period between the sonogram and the abortion. As you can imagine, pro-abortion legislators are not happy about the law. The Associated Press reports:
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Douthat on “The Palin Tragedy”
Here’s Ross Douthat‘s take on Sarah Palin then and now: “Palin was caricatured viciously, but in response she decided to essentially become the caricature, giving her enemies exactly the kind of Spiro Agnew-in-heels performance they expected, and then chasing celebrity in destructive (if lucrative) ways once the initial firestorm around her subsided. The only thing that can be said in her defense is that her choices, while misguided, have been very, very human.
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Gerson’s Trenchant Critique of Libertarianism
In last week’s Republican debate, Ron Paul called for a repeal of laws against prostitution, cocaine, and heroin. Paul argued that our society should treat turning tricks and shooting up in the same way that we treat freedom of religion—they are inalienable rights. This kind of libertarianism in my view is deficient in its view of human nature and would comprise an unloving and degrading way to organize society. I couldn’t agree more with Michael Gerson’s critique of Paul’s libertarian approach. Gerson writes:
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N.T. Wright and Rowan Williams Criticize Bin Laden Killing
Rowan Williams and N.T. Wright have some strong words criticizing the recent execution of Osama Bin Laden. I do not agree with either of them, but here they are nonetheless. First, Rowan Williams:
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The Kids with George W. Bush on 9/11
TIME magazine has a fascinating story on the children who were with President Bush on 9-11 when he received the news that America was under attack. They are all very appreciative of his calm response and that he didn’t immediately storm out of the room. One student described it this way: “I’ll always remember watching his face turn red. He got really serious all of a sudden. But I was clueless. I was just seven. I’m just glad he didn’t get up and leave because then I would have been more scared and confused.
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Moral Equivalence and Bin Laden
Doug Wilson and Kevin DeYoung both have helpful warnings against making a moral equivalence between the crimes of Osama bin Laden and the lesser shortcomings of the average Christian. First, Doug Wilson: