Last week, a federal judge in Louisiana upheld that state's prohibition against state-sex marriage. One of the arguments he raised marriage between two men or between two women is so novel that anything can happen.
"For example," he wrote, "must states permit or recognize a marriage between an aunt and niece? May minors marry? Must marriage be limited to only two people? What about a transgender spouse? Is such a union same-gender or male-female?"
It's the old "slippery slope" argument. Rick Santorum resorted to the slippery slope argument during his failed presidential campaign in 2012. He suggested having two men or two women marry eventually would lead to "man and dog" marriage.
What a wingnut.
The "slippery slope" argument is weak in almost any context. It is intellectual sloth, a failure to present a rational argument. It is an exercise in silliness.
That's why I was so glad when Bill Maher took the tactic head-on:
"New Rule: Gay marriage won't lead to dog marriage. It is not a slippery slope to rampant interspecies coupling. When women got the right to vote, it didn't lead to hamsters voting. No court has extended the Equal Protection Clause to salmon. And for the record, all marriages are same sex marriages. You get married, and every night, it's the same sex."
Well said, Bill.
"For example," he wrote, "must states permit or recognize a marriage between an aunt and niece? May minors marry? Must marriage be limited to only two people? What about a transgender spouse? Is such a union same-gender or male-female?"
It's the old "slippery slope" argument. Rick Santorum resorted to the slippery slope argument during his failed presidential campaign in 2012. He suggested having two men or two women marry eventually would lead to "man and dog" marriage.
What a wingnut.
The "slippery slope" argument is weak in almost any context. It is intellectual sloth, a failure to present a rational argument. It is an exercise in silliness.
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| Bill Maher |
"New Rule: Gay marriage won't lead to dog marriage. It is not a slippery slope to rampant interspecies coupling. When women got the right to vote, it didn't lead to hamsters voting. No court has extended the Equal Protection Clause to salmon. And for the record, all marriages are same sex marriages. You get married, and every night, it's the same sex."
Well said, Bill.