Mirror of Justice

A blog dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory.
Affiliated with the Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame Law School.

Monday, September 26, 2005

John Courtney Murray and Same-Sex Marriage

I was not able to make it to Villanova's John Courtney Murray conference, but I have a question to pose to conference participants (and anyone else interested): What would Murray have said about today's debate over same-sex marriage? 

One common argument against same-sex marriage is that it will legitimize immoral conduct and provide avenues for future generations to embrace immoral conduct more easily, relegating the true vision of marriage to being merely an available, but not uniquely authentic, path.  But didn't Murray's embrace of religious freedom do the same thing regarding religious truth?  In both contexts, the Church is free to stand for the Truth in the public square, but the public square is opened to other paths as well.  If public morality is, in Murray's words, to be "determined by moral standards commonly accepted among the people," does the basis for opposing the state's recognition of same-sex marriage evaporate once public opinion in a given state turns in favor of same-sex marriage?

Is there another basis for concluding that Murray would oppose same-sex marriage?

Rob

https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2005/09/john_courtney_m_2.html

Vischer, Rob | Permalink

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