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Marriage is a certainly an idealized legal institute, with few entering the relationship expecting divorce statistics will one day apply to them. Of course this is not to say that there aren't long and happy marriages, but on the whole, does the evidence suggest that marriage is, at the risk of sounding wholly unromantic, rational?
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New York has countless mosques, but recently a plan to build a large mosque and Islamic cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero has sparked controversy. Some conservatives want to ban the construction of the mosque, claiming its an insult to the people who died on September 11th, while libertarians tend to argue that religious freedom is a constitutional right.
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An argument - arguably the argument - in favor of drug prohibition is that it actually reduces drug usage. This assumption has not only been challenged but actually tested by countries such as Portugal which have recently decriminalized drugs.
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The burka is clothing that completely hides a woman's body and face, apart from a small slit for the eyes. Some countries outlaw the burka, some claiming it oppresses women, and others saying it poses a security threat. Defenders of the burka claim a ban is an infringement of religious freedom.
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Euthanasia is the act of mercifully ending someone's life, such as a terminally ill patient. It can be voluntary (where the patient gives consent) or involuntary (where the patient is unable to communicate). It can also be via action (e.g. a drug overdose) or inaction (cutting off life support). Euthanasia also encompasses assisted suicide, where a physician enables the patient to perform the act.
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A common reason for the prohibition of psychoactive drugs is the health risk they entail. However, from a libertarian perspective, a person is free to engage in activities that are a risk to themselves, such as high-impact sports.
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Anti-doping advocates assert that drugs undermine the spirit of sport, which is about pushing natural human limitations and playing within the rules. However, as sport becomes increasingly high-tech, what is 'natural' becomes harder to define. Defenders of doping also dispute the efficacy of drug enforcement, suggesting that anti-doping rules foster the opposite of fair play.
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The arguments for the death penalty include its use as a deterrent, a means to save lives, and a way to enact justice. Common counterarguments are that it fails as a deterrent, that justice is perverted because a certain proportion of convicts are later found innocent, and that under no circumstances is killing acceptable if it can be prevented.
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Marriage comes with many legal benefits. In the United States, there are over 1,100 rights associated with married heterosexual couples, many of which are not available to homosexual couples. Gay advocates say that laws must not discriminate on sexual orientation.
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Psychoactive drugs are illegal in most countries. The arguments for their illegality are based on their negative health effects and associated social costs. The arguments for their legality are typically based on respecting individual liberty, being scientific about the health risks, and the cost, failure, and injustices of enforcement.
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Decriminalizing marijuana means reducing criminal charges associated with the possession of marijuana, and for smaller offenses, replacing criminal charges with fines. Decriminalization is not equivalent to legalization.
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Jane Austen
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters. -- Narrator, Pride and Prejudice.
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George W. Bush
The union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution, honoring -- honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith. Ages of experience have taught humanity that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society. Marriage cannot be severed from its cultural, religious and natural roots without weakening the good influence of society.
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Bill Maher
I always compare marriage to communism. They're both institutions that don't conform to human nature, so you're going to end up with lying and hypocrisy.
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Sam Schulman
True, many marriages promote loving intimacy and enduring fidelity, but that’s an outcome of the relationship itself – not the raison d’etre for the institution. In primordial terms, marriage only exists at all – in all of its permutations, pleasant or barbaric – because of the nature of human heterosexuality. As a species, we need to protect female sexuality in order to assure ourselves of a future. ... [Else a man] would turn her into a slave, a concubine – something less than fully human.
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Laura Kipnis
And then there's the American mantra of the failing relationship: 'Good marriages take work!' When exactly did the rhetoric of the factory become the default language of coupledom? Is there really anyone to whom this is an attractive proposition, who, after spending all day on the job, wants to come home and work some more? Here's an interesting question: what's the gain to a society in promoting more work to an overworked population as a supposed solution to the travails of marital discontent?
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The Catholic Church
The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. ... God himself is the author of marriage.
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Roissy in DC
Marriage is a social mechanism designed to exchange sex for indentured servitude. So why are women now the eager instigators of divorce? What changed in the culture? Four things, primarily: the pill, easy divorce, women’s economic independence, and rigged laws that make divorce a good financial prospect for women. ... All the positive loving benefits you can get out of marriage can also be had within an unmarried relationship.
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The Economist
...the complaint seems to boil down to a vague sense that doing Muslim stuff near ground zero is an unhappy reminder of terrorism, because the terrorists claimed to be acting in the name of Islam. ... [In any case, it's] impossible to be sensitive both to those who see the mosque as an affront and those who see opposition to it as proof of prejudice, which is why America has a constitution to adjudicate such disputes. And in this [case it] comes down squarely on the side of the mosque-builders.
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M. Zuhdi Jasser
I am an American Muslim dedicated to defeating the ideology that fuels global Islamist terror -- political Islam. And I don't see such a "center" actually fighting terrorism or being a very "positive" addition near Ground Zero, no matter how well intentioned. To put it bluntly, Ground Zero is the one place in America where Muslims should think less about teaching Islam and "our good side" and more about being American and fulfilling our responsibilities to confront the ideology of our enemies.
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