Andrew Carroll
Prof. Wesley
English 185
10/2/14
Critique of "Against Gay Marriage"
In his essay "Against Gay Marriage," William Bennett, a great spokesman for conservatives and former Secretary of education under President Reagan, maintains his conservative stance that allowing same-sex couples to marry would have a harmful and lasting effect on our society's intrinsic values and, in his view, would stretch the "fragile" institution of marriage beyond recognition (409). Bennett, as the title indicates, presents a powerful argument "Against Gay Marriage." He argues that allowing gay marriage would change the meaning of marriage, the ideal of marriage as being an "honorable estate," and would have a large role in molding sexuality (409). One does not have to agree with Bennett to appreciate the strength and honesty of his mind. Still, although he raises thoughtful objections to same-sex marriage, his claims overall read more like an outline, lacking specifics and expert opinions, referring to one organized, careful study, and committing a number of logical fallacies that muddy and diminish the effectiveness of his argument.
Throughout his essay, Bennett makes many underlying assumptions about same sex couples and the legalization of homosexual marriage. From the beginning, Bennett states that even entertaining such a debate "would be pointless," were it not for the "confused time" we find ourselves in (409). Bennett does concede, however, that arguments made by homosexual advocates such as Andrew Sullivan are "intelligent" ones, and even "conservative," and "politically shrewd" (409), when touching on the idea that allowing gay marriage would actually promote healthy long term relationships. Sullivan does an excellent job of arguing his point that legalization of gay marriage would in fact, help promote healthy relationships and monogamous tendencies, which in his essay he states that the legalization of gay marriage would in fact also...