In a recent blog entry, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan noted that within days of the New York State legislature’s decision to affirm homosexual marriage, some enthusiasts had upped the ante, asking us to consider “nonmonogamy.” This was not a false alarm.
When the U.S. Supreme Court rejected precedent and decided to invent a right to sodomy (see Lawrence v. Texas, 2003), Justice Scalia wrote in dissent that everything from bigamy to bestiality could now be justified in light of this ruling. After all, if moral choice is the only operative principle, then on what basis can we tell a brother and sister, that they cannot marry? This is not a matter of idle speculation: in the wake of Lawrence, attempts to legalize polygamy and incest were made, and it is just a matter of time before some judge decides it’s necessary to break new ground.
If anything, Archbishop Dolan understated the problem. Five years ago, hundreds of prominent professors, lawyers, writers and activists signed a statement declaring war on marriage. For example, the statement said, “Queer couples and siblings who decide to jointly create and raise a child with another queer person or couple, in two households,” should be afforded the same protections as marriage, traditionally understood. These zealots even went so far as to say that such arrangements should be given private [read: religious] recognition.
Archbishop Dolan did us a favor by issuing this wake-up call. Sadly, he does not exaggerate, not by one bit.
