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PaperclipPerfector  11mo ago (text post)   27235 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 11, 2023

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I don't particularly care what the interests of the state are, in terms of whether or not I'm for or against something. Hell, in plenty of situations, like privacy or free speech, the interests of the collective state and that of its individual citizens are diametrically opposed. So much the worse for the state, is/ought distinction etc.

That being said, the Spartan state encouraged homosexuality as a male bonding exercise, so it's hardly unheard of.

What it is, is irrelevant, from the perspective of whether citizens should tolerate it.

I don't particularly care what the interests of the state are, in terms of whether or not I'm for or against something.

Same. I oppose homosexuality for my own private reasons which are non-religious, but are mildly aligned with the state's interests.

Hell, in plenty of situations, like privacy or free speech, the interests of the collective state and that of its individual citizens are diametrically opposed. So much the worse for the state, is/ought distinction etc.

You might well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

That being said, the Spartan state encouraged homosexuality as a male bonding exercise, so it's hardly unheard of

There is some evidence they encouraged some forms of M-M sodomy, but not obligate homosexuality as encouraged by the majority of gay advocacy groups in the current day, and certainly it would be a practice entirely orthogonal to a marriage between men, which would run afoul of even the Spartans IMO twisted position.

What it is, is irrelevant, from the perspective of whether citizens should tolerate it.

Well, we are talking about the state issuing marriage licenses. This sort of comment is like saying, "whether the secretary of state refuses to give blind people driving licenses is irrelevant to whether citizens should support blind people driving!"

Well, we are talking about the state issuing marriage licenses. This sort of comment is like saying, "whether the secretary of state refuses to give blind people driving licenses is irrelevant to whether citizens should support blind people driving!"

Well the crux of the issue is whether the existence of gay marriage is causing "harm" to the majority of the other citizens. That's certainly false for the strict standard of harm my libertarian side espouses.

If they aren't bussy-blasting you, hypothetical (and the odd real ones around here) person who disapproves, suck it up. Err.. Not quite that way, but I applaud your spirit!

Well the crux of the issue is whether the existence of gay marriage is causing "harm" to the majority of the other citizens.

No? The Crux of the question is whether the state is interested in gay relationships because they cause some sort of complication that we think we need to deal with. With heterosexual pairings, we think we need to deal with responsibility for those children. That is pretty much the state interest. Whether there is some harm is not the point. The point is having standard rules for standard things.

I don't particularly care what the interests of the state are, in terms of whether or not I'm for or against something.

Sure. The argument was about "why should the state care?"

It's consistent to say that the state should advance one set of values that serves their interests, while private citizens are free to hold other values that have nothing to do with state interests. E.g. the state has an interest in having a strong military and may choose to valorize soldiers with medals and memorials and holidays. Meanwhile private citizens may choose to adopt different values that don't glamorize dying in war.

I gave you an example of a state advancing homosexuality for what can be described as the sake of the state.

Idk about you, but I expect, being the citizen of a representative democracy, and likely to become a citizen of another one, that the state does its level best to align itself with the desires of the majority of its citizenry.

To be clear, I don't actually agree with the argument. "The state" in my view is barely a coherent concept as an actor - it's more a vehicle that various groups fight to control than a thing with its own desires (and to the extent it has its own desires they tend to be narrow "more money for our department" desires). I agree that in the real world governments usually take moral positions as a marketing exercise. If there's lots of religious conservatives, ban gay marriage. If there's lots of secular liberals, fly rainbow flags everywhere.

I was simply trying to redirect the argument back to the actual point of contention.

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