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Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Debating marriage
It will take time, talk and a lot of testing of theories to resolve the country's ambivalence about how unions between gay couples are recognized. President Bush's vote-happy call for a constitutional amendment has little to contribute to the discussion.
As the president observed yesterday, everyone's rights deserve respect. The best way to honor deeply held and sometimes varying religious beliefs about the nature of marriage, however, is to remove the government from any pretense of having a role in conferring sanctification on committed personal relationships.
The authorities' job is to create fair rules for handling property and other questions arising from the relationships. Individuals and religious groups can decide themselves what unions deserve celebration as marriages.
The president complained about "activist judges." But the process of resolving questions about equity generally has been well served by the courts' response to suits brought by people seeking change. As the courts rule, legislatures, Congress and the public have time to assess how, in practice, to accommodate new ideas.
An amendment would short-circuit the discussions. That may bring election-year gains. But it would make it more difficult to create policies that respect everyone's ideas of marriage, commitment and family.
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