|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Gay Marriage - A Libertarian Perspective
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Issue
|
| Contributor | Servo |
| Last Edited | Servo Oct 21, 2006 12:23pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | Opinion |
| News Date | Friday, November 7, 2003 06:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | A topic much discussed of late is that of gay marriage. In this essay, I attempt to examine gay marriage from a libertarian perspective. As a libertarian, I believe that government laws should be minimal, and people should be free to do what they want so long as their actions don’t harm others.
Before examining gay marriage from a libertarian perspective, let’s examine just the topic of marriage. A pure libertarian might argue that laws respecting marriage are unnecessary and not consistent with the philosophy that laws should be kept to a minimum. People should be free to live with whomever they choose, and they should also be free to get married at a religious ceremony. But why should there be special laws recognizing marriage?
The answer is that the concept of marriage is so deeply rooted in our traditions that the sensible libertarian accepts the laws codifying marriage as a necessary exception to general libertarian principles. In fact, I’d go as far to say that libertarians who argue against marriage laws give the whole philosophy a bad name. Marriage is not just deeply rooted in Western cultures, but in fact seems to be a universal practice of all mankind, no matter what part of the world and what religion. Marriage is a practice that is quintessentially human. |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
