Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law
Abstract
After initially reporting on the status of the movement for same-sex marriage in the United States and around the world, this article reviews the five key claims of the "conservative case" for same-sex marriage ("we exist," stabilization, sexual taming, social gains, and no harm) and compares them to the seven core principles of conservatism (preservation, institutions, caution, experience, distrust, individualism, and morality). It finds that the claims for same-sex marriage are seriously deficient when measured against those conservative principles. It presents a conservative case against same-sex marriage both in terms of those key principles of conservatism as well by reference to the practical harms and detriments to society, families and individuals that have come and may be reasonably expected to flow from same-sex marriage. Borrowing Garrett Hardin's famous "tragedy of the commons" metaphor, this article suggests that lack of personal responsibility for the common interest in marriage underlies much of the acceptance of same-sex marriage, and concludes with a call to consider the ultimate accountability that the consequences of our social choices will produce.
Rights
ยฉ 2008 BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School
Recommended Citation
Lynn D. Wardle, ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ "๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ด๐ฆ" ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ-๐๐ฆ๐น ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐จ๐ฆ: ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ-๐๐ฆ๐น ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ "๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด", 22 BYU J. Pแดส. L. 441 (2008).
Link to SSRN
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1275569