IS MARRIAGE A RIGHT? Matt Taylor replies to Mark Tardiff

I agree with Mark that traditional societies often attribute their code of conduct to an external source, such as the gods or their ancestors. In this he has uncovered a serious problem with the way I formulated the so-called "communitarian" view of rights. While I think there are many people today who feel that rights are properly defined by society itself, this is not the traditional view. Perhaps it would be more accurate to enumerate a third, "authoritarian" moral framework, in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals are set down by an unimpeachable authority, such as a deity or an ancient oral tradition.

As Mark has argued, the authoritarian framework does not allow for marriage to be redefined. This is certainly true of Christianity, the traditional authority most historically relevant to the United States. Here, then, is a revised attempt at connecting moral frameworks to the question, "is marriage a right?": authoritarians would say "no", libertarians "yes", and communitarians "maybe" (depending whether you think SSM is good or bad for society).

Mark then raises some objections to the notion of "inventing rights", from which I infer that he considers rights best defined by a traditional authority:

"I could insist on being allowed to do something, but unless I can appeal to something beyond society itself the only reason I can give is that I want to be able to do something."
I could be very wrong, but I sense that this line of discussion is headed toward a debate over the authority of Christian scriptures. That may be where we need to go in order for SSM opponents and advocates to understand each other, but is it really what we want to talk about? I've heard that kind of debate many, many times, and I've yet to see it end with anything but anger and frustration on both sides. On the other hand, if Mark and others have some other authority in mind when speaking of individual rights, please enlighten us ... that would be a truly fresh perspective.
posted by Eve at 6:43 PM | Link |

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