Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Cosmos The In Lost

Home
Catholic
The Queer Catholic Pro-Life Logic of the Gay Marriage Majority Decision

The Queer Catholic Pro-Life Logic of the Gay Marriage Majority Decision

Last updated on: June 27, 2015 at 2:08 pm by Artur Rosman

The Queer Catholic Pro-Life Logic of the Gay Marriage Majority Decision 2015-06-27T14:08:33-07:00 Artur Rosman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jesus, Prince of Peace and Republican Philosopher? (William Holman Hunt, Jesus and the Two Marys [detail]; Source: Wikimedia Commons, PD-Old-100).

The second half of Jody Bottum’s Age of Anxiety makes a strong case for the American internalization of Catholic natural law language. One of the goals of his book is to point out the heavy Catholic presence in American public life through the public square’s adoption of this typically Catholic way of speaking.

This exegesis of a kind of esoteric writing does get a little bit farcical when Bottum takes up an extended reading of George W. Bush’s statement that Jesus Christ is his favorite philosopher. This involves the reading of Bush’s second inaugural as packed with Catholic natural law language.

All too briefly I’ll summarize the argument like this: If natural law is written into that inaugural, and natural law is Catholic esoteric writing, and Catholics are members of the Christ’s Church, then that’s why Bush can say that Jesus is his favorite political philosopher.

There might be something to it, even though I think Bottum imputes too much intellectual dignity to Bush’s speechwriters and Bush’s intellectual agenda.

But then the Slate article “Dignity” Could Be Dangerous at the Supreme Court by Katherine Franke made me do a double-take:

Supreme Court watchers have their money on same-sex couples winning a right to marry when the court rules in Obergefell v. Hodges. But the harder question is: How will the court get there? What constitutional right, exactly, is violated when same-sex couples are denied the opportunity to marry? The answer to this question matters, especially for women and reproductive rights. The expansion of rights for one group might result in the contraction of rights for others, leaving an ignoble stain on an otherwise significant win for queer people.

Where does the ignoble stain come from according to the author of Wedlocked: The Perils of Marriage Equality? It comes from Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion using Catholic natural law “human dignity” language (she does not come out and say it, but it’s there):

It’s hard to come out as an opponent of dignity, but in this case I must. In this political and legal climate the cost of dignifying same-sex relationships risks shaming women exercising reproductive rights. I’m not willing to win marriage rights for same-sex couples in a way that might contract the noble promises of our Constitution. We should have more expansive expectations of what it means to win.

Kennedy, of course, is a Catholic appointee from the Reagan administration. Therefore, it doesn’t seem too far-fetched that he would fall back on Catholic natural law discourse (whether he did it consciously or not is irrelevant) when writing the majority opinion.

After all, Andrew Sullivan also leaned heavily on Catholic theological culture when he first mainstreamed the idea of gay marriage.

As Milosz once said in his collection Second Space:

Alas, an American saying has applied to me, though it was not coined with kindly intent:
‘Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.’

Perhaps the Age of Anxiety is on target with its meditation on Jesus Christ (Philosopher) and his influence over the Republican party? Wouldn’t that be a queer Catholic encroachment on the wall of separation?

Could it also be an opening for prenatal rights?

You might also want to take a look at why Zizek thinks there is nothing more perverse than faithful straight marriage and why after the SCOTUS decision gays (as a group) are no longer morally superior to Christians (as a group).

Rent time is right around the corner and we’ve followed the Catholic anti-capitalist logic of having multiple kids before we’re economically viable. Please help out by continuing your generous donations through the PayPal donate button on the right side of my homepage (scroll down a bit).

justice anthony kennedy

SCOTUS

supreme court

Previous Post

June 24, 2015

Zoltan Istvan 2016: Transhumanist Anti-Nature is Now Mainstream

Next Post

June 29, 2015 Difference, Disharmony, and Drama Are the Essence of Marriage

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #WhyRemainCatholic Abortion Advent Anti-Catholicism Arts Atheism Beauty Benedict XVI Bible Book Review Catholic Cinema Comedy Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey Czesław Miłosz Dariusz Karłowicz Devil Easter Eastern Orthodoxy Economics Environment Family Famous Atheists Who Weren't Atheists Guest Post Hans Urs von Balthasar HHS Mandate History Imagination Interview Islam Jean-Luc Marion John Paul II Judaism Just War Lent Literature Little Sisters of the Poor Liturgy Martyrdom Music News Paganism Patristics Phenomenology Philosophy Pierre Hadot Poetry Poland Pop Culture Pope Francis Poverty Prayer Protestantism Rabelais Race Remi Brague Rene Girard Russia Sam Rocha Science & Religion SCOTUS Secularization Sexual Abuse Sexuality Silence Solidarity Stratford Caldecott Synod14 Terrorism Top 10 Uncategorized Walker Percy War Weakened Edition World War II World Youth Day WYD Krakow

Select a Month July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

And if a kingdom be divided against itself, ____________.

Select your answer to see how you score.

it will fall it is doomed it has no hope that kingdom cannot stand