Banning Kale
375 words.
One of the more popular (secular) arguments I hear against same-sex marriage appeared recently on the Crowhill Weblog (Why same-sex marriage isn’t just about somebody’s “rights”). It goes something like this: By allowing same-sex marriage, the same-sex philosophy is forced onto people who don’t agree with it because they have to “accommodate” it. This argument usually comes in response to a “live and let live”-type statement.
Let me illustrate: Person A says, “I don’t care if other people have same-sex marriages as long as it doesn’t affect me.” Person B responds, “But it will affect you and me because we have to accommodate those marriages; therefore they are forcing their same-sex agenda on us, and that’s wrong.” Person A considers for a moment. “I certainly don’t want anyone forcing their agenda on me, so I guess we should ban same-sex marriage.”
What’s never clear to me is what specific “accommodations” are required. But beyond that key bit of missing information, I see another subtle flaw: The argument does not specifically refute the proposition, so it can be applied to justify banning anything. The key component of the argument revolves not around same-sex marriage, but around “accommodation” being an action forced upon the unwilling.
Consider the following comedic example: Person A says, “I don’t like kale myself, but as long as I don’t have to eat it, I don’t care if other people eat it.” Person B responds, “But we have to accommodate those people eating kale, so they are forcing their kale-eating tastes on us, and that’s wrong.” Person A considers. “Eww, I sure don’t want anyone forcing their kale-eating tastes on me, so I guess we should ban kale.”
Now I suppose if one were to look up the definition of the word “accommodate,” one would find that technically it does involve some action (“adapting”). But in my mind, it’s not so much action as it is inaction. That is, the accommodating action in this case is being polite and not freaking out, in much the same way that we accommodate little old blind ladies counting out pennies in the express checkout lane ahead of us.
And just for the record, yes, I do support a ban on kale and little old blind ladies.
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