on the cover / By Ryan Burns

Nine Arguments Against 8

(Aug. 12, 2010)  Woven throughout the Prop. 8 debate you’ll find plenty of dispute, anger, indignation and hand-wringing about morality and ethics, those cohabitant “better angels of our nature,” to quote Honest Abe via Obama. In overturning California’s voter-approved measure, federal Judge Vaughn Walker largely dismissed such concerns, ruling that the measure “enacted a private moral view without advancing a legitimate government interest.” Which is all well and good, except it sidesteps the fate of our eternal souls. Government interest aside, is homosexuality immoral? Is denying gay marriage ethical? (Wait, what’s the difference again?)

To help us with these thorny issues, the Journal invited philosophical ethicist Dr. Loren L. Cannon, who teaches in HSU’s department of philosophy, and his wife Jessica Pettitt, a public speaker and consultant specializing in social justice, to weigh in. (Disclosure: They’re also friends with the author.) They addressed the “Yes on 8” arguments one by one. Some excerpts:

Jessica Pettitt and Dr. Loren Cannon. PHOTO BY RYAN BURNS

GALLERY >

Marriage has always meant one man, one woman.

Dr. Loren Cannon: In most logic textbooks, argument from tradition is seen as a logical fallacy. Groups of people do really horrible things sometimes. Slavery in this country was traditional. … Secondly, it’s just wrong in this case. The understanding we have of heterosexual marriage — the nuclear family — there are a lot of cultures that have much different types of organizations.

Jessica Pettitt: Traditionally Mormon men have had multiple wives, multiple generations living in the same household. Traditions are culturally bound.

LC: That doesn’t mean tradition is valueless. I think tradition is very important. It can be a worthwhile way of organizing one’s life, celebrating different rites of passage. But it’s also true that you can look back on those practices and ask, “Is this limiting our culture from respecting certain people?”

The purpose of marriage is to promote procreation.

LC: Two things are wrong with that argument. One, it assumes marriage hasn’t changed. Heterosexuals have already changed marriage considerably [away from] any kind of ethical ideal — not gay folks. Secondly, that argument restricts [many] heterosexuals from getting married also. Some heterosexuals don’t have kids. Some don’t live together. Some have kinky sex. They do all sorts of crazy stuff.

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