THE SLIPPERY SLOPE

It puzzles me that so many seemingly intelligent people have no problem accepting “gay marriage”. They say things like “Marriage just isn’t what it used to be, so why not”; or “ If two people can be happy, then let them marry”; or “I see no harm in it”; trivial things like that that one wouldn’t expect from intelligent, educated people. I suppose marriage really isn’t what it used to be, or else it just isn’t important to those saying these things.

But, one would say, if “gay marriage” is allowed, then wouldn’t this open the way for incestuous marriages, or polygamous marriages, or group marriages, also? The inevitable reply is that this is “The Slippery Slope Argument”; and no, accepting one form of unconventional marriage doesn’t necessarily mean that all forms must be accepted. We can trust our trustworthy legislators and judges to make sure these things never happen. But people are shortsighted. More than likely they are new to this world or don’t know their history, and take the world as it is pretty much for granted. So, there is the presumption that because we seem to be standing, no one has slipped.

Why do I have the feeling, though, that we have slipped on the slope long ago, and if we are standing it’s on rock bottom? Now, we’ve started to dig.

I like the term slippery slope, but I like foot-in-the-door, also. The foot-in-the-door happened back in the fifties and sixties, from my experience, with the Playboy Philosophy, the advent of The Pill and the ensuing Sexual Revolution, followed by the feminist movement, then the gay movement, and don’t forget the drugs. Yes, it was a hedonistic time, a bunch of well-to-do kids cashing in on the all the hard work of previous generations. It was time to divvy up the spoils. It was time to party, and no one was going to deny anybody “doing his own thing”. That was called tolerance. A healthy dose of moral relativism, and the foot was in the door.

Now the Religious Right is trying to save the furniture, the door having been bashed in and the house being taken over by home invaders. Soon they’ll be setting fire to it. That may explain the urgency and call-to-arms of traditionalists, and their fierce opposition to same-sex marriage. It may already be too late. Even if they do manage to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being only between a man and a woman, the gay rights activists will simply change strategies and lobby for special legislation to create a “gay marriage” act, whereby they will acquire all the rights of a traditional marriage. Now that society has come to not just tolerate, but also accept homosexuality, it would seem unconscionable to relegate homosexuals to a legal no-man’s land.

Such are the consequences of heading down the road with the slippery slope. Even if you don’t slip, you’ll still end up at the bottom.