Historically and across cultures, marriage has been the institution that unites a man and woman as husband and wife to be father and mother to children born of their union, providing their offspring with the distinctive contributions of paternal and maternal care and influence. That understanding of marriage shaped its structuring norms, including the norm of sexual complementarity that has been found always and everywhere.
Marriage plays a fundamental role in civil society because it is characterized by sexual complementarity, monogamy, exclusivity, and permanence. These marriage norms encourage men and women to commit permanently and exclusively to each other and take responsibility for their children.
While many American hotel executives refuse to rid their businesses of pornography, Petter Stordalen, owner of one of Scandinavia's largest hotel chains, is leading the way forward.
Just as families were getting ready to head out the door for a long holiday weekend, the Obama Administration has rolled out new policies that disregard states' authority over marriage and redefine marriage for a variety of federal purposes.
Before finally making the call about what to do in Syria, I pray that President Obama will call President George W. Bush and request his advice on the bomb or missile attacks he is contemplating.
The Supreme Court of New Mexico ruled Aug. 22 that the First Amendment does not protect a Christian photographer's ability to decline to take pictures of a same-sex commitment ceremony -- even when doing so would violate the photographer's deeply held religious beliefs.
In a 5–4 majority opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Windsor struck down section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage in federal law for federal policy as the union of one man and one woman. The Court held that the federal government has to accept state redefinitions of marriage for federal policies.
The Supreme Court announced disturbing decisions today on two important cases dealing with marriage law. The Court refused, however, to create a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
A new Pew opinion poll shows that a majority of Americans believe the redefinition of marriage is "inevitable." We've heard "inevitable" language before, particularly from statists of all stripes. History is filled with supposedly "inevitable" causes that turned out not to be so. So, too, on marriage.
Same-sex marriage never will be widely accepted in America for a simple reason: It's based on a lie. But don't take my word on this; leading LGBT scholars and activists say as much.
