Published May 15, 2024
Depending on your age, same-sex “marriage” may be as quintessentially American as baseball and apple pie at this point. That was what I came away with after reading Molly Ball’s Wall Street Journal report on how same-sex nuptials have transformed the American landscape. In her telling, the transformation has been a stunning success, winning wide cultural approval. As Ball tells it, the effects have been commonplace as gay couples have largely conformed themselves to the otherwise humdrum and bucolic trappings of other ordinary marriages. One expert interviewed noted that “overall, the fears of opponents of same-sex marriage simply have not come to pass.”
As an opponent of same-sex marriage dating back to over a decade now, I beg to differ. Ball is not altogether wrong in her reporting that many within same-sex marriages find themselves enjoying the routineness of their relationship in the eyes of the world. And yet, the fact that something becomes routine does not mean that it is right or good. What Ball’s reporting focuses on is the personal aspects of same-sex marriage as an institutional phenomenon while overlooking the significant downstream negative consequences of same-sex marriage on American culture. And on that front, there have been many.
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EPPC Fellow Andrew T. Walker, Ph.D., researches and writes about the intersection of Christian ethics, public theology, and the moral principles that support civil society and sound government. A sought-after speaker and cultural commentator, Dr. Walker’s academic research interests and areas of expertise include natural law, human dignity, family stability, social conservatism, and church-state studies. The author or editor of more than ten books, he is passionate about helping Christians understand the moral demands of the gospel and their contributions to human flourishing and the common good. His most recent book, out in May 2021 from Brazos Press, is titled Liberty for All: Defending Everyone’s Religious Freedom in a Secular Age.
