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Entry: Deflating Marriage Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/deflating_marriage#28442 Post contents: Another good provocative article from Mr. Bramwell. Keep 'em coming! The main objection I have to this "destroy the village in order to save it" philosophy is that there's no chance that the village will be re-built along traditional lines. All this "achieving one's potential" treacle is exactly what will replace it. I don't see how you're going to get from Khalil Gibran to the Book of Common Prayer. Maybe the best hope is to deflect the opponent's jabs. Some commenters mentioned Jane Austen. She saw marriage as, among other things, a form of education, of teaching virtue (see especially <i>Emma</i>, and <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> too). Maybe we could take this pop "full potential" stuff and reflect it back in the form of Austen-ish virtues. Just a thought. On gay "marriage" in particular, I think the battle has been all but decided in the courts. On the political front, the best rhetorical strategy is to argue not from teleology, but from Merriam-Webster: "a marriage is...". Sometimes the simplest argument is the most effective. Sent at: 2008 12 02