Review: What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense

If the traditional view of marriage is to survive in the secular West, it must begin by explaining why lifelong, exclusive heterosexual relationships deserve a recognition denied to other types of relationship. Hence What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense by Sherif Girgis, Robert P. George, and Ryan T. Anderson. This book develops their Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy article of the same name. It opposes the “revisionist” view of marriage, which describes marriage as an emotional union, or romantic attachment, between two people. Revisionists view marriage as a union of hearts and minds, enhanced by whatever forms of sexual intimacy both partners find agreeable. This union need not be procreative – that is, the type of union that creates families.

Against the revisionists, Girgis, George and Anderson argue that only the traditional, or “conjugal”, definition can give a robust and comprehensive explanation of marriage. While they are convincing, and What is Marriage is rigorously argued, they won’t win points for readability. Here is their definition of marriage:

 Marriage is that type of community that is both a comprehensive unity (a unity on all levels of the human person, including the bodily-sexual) and a community that would be fulfilled by procreating and rearing children together. Moreover, there is an intrinsic link between these two aspects of the community; the comprehensive (and therefore intrinsically sexual) relationship is fulfilled by, and is not merely incidental to, the procreating and rearing of children.

The Top Ten Same Sex Marriage False “Facts” by Frank Turek

Apologist Frank Turek (blog | books | interview | resources) has posted an article entitled "The Top Ten Same Sex Marriage False 'Facts'" Worth reading in light of the issues surrounding California's Prop 8. Turek also talks about this article in his recent radio broadcast. For a fuller treatment, check out Frank's book: Correct, Not Politically Correct; How Same-Sex Marriage Hurts Everyone.

Article HERE. MP3 Audio here.

Edit: Frank Turek also speaks on the subject on this episode of Issues, Etc.

Enjoy.