Do these trite nothing-burgers sound compelling to anyone outside of NOM's tiny circle?

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07/17/2014

by Jeremy Hooper

Following up on its recent attempt to create a meme out of a not-as-profound-as-they-think comment delivered by (unmarried) Alison Howard of the Concerned Women For America, NOM is now pushing this banal thought from recently married Caitlin La Ruffa (née Seery):

[NOM]

A few things.

(1) No one is suggesting marriage should be whatever we want it to be. Instead, same-sex marriage advocates have made a long, multi-faceted, compelling case for why marriage should drop the gender requirement. That is a very limited expansion, and it is only on the table of consideration because it met the proper smell tests. If anyone else wants to propose any other reconsideration—and everyone does have that right, thank Uncle Sam—then they are going to have to exceed that same high bar. It's a tough case to make.

(2) This limited expansion is not a "weakening." And how dare you keep demanding that it is? Without any proof or compelling logic, social conservatives operate with the preconceived idea that our marriages constitute a drain. A burden. An erosion. It's anti-intellectual and just plain wrong, of course. But it's also really offensive. Are we not Americans too?

(3) Yes, marriage will continue to mean something profound. I say that as a married man. Marriage means everything to me. I am a BIG fan of it. Marriage is a commitment that I have pledged to the one love of my life; marriage is a currency that tells our daughter that we, as a thriving family unit, are there for her—together, enjoined, always.

Again, what gall to claim that because more people get the chance to participate in this meaningful institution that it takes away meaning from others. If you truly believe that your marriage is less meaningful because of mine, then that's on you, not me. You need to get the hell out of my home and check in on your own!

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