Law of the Land

From the on-going series small-c conservatism does not always argue for traditional values:

The day after the California Court decision to legalise Gay Marriage, I heard what sounded like an older woman on NPR saying something to the effect of Marriage should be between a man and a woman. It’s the Law of the land!

A remarkably large number of people take moral clues from legislation. As I see it, legislation can be downstream from morality, but never upstream from it (i.e., legislation derives from morality, which may cause them to be similar; but one should never derive morality from legislation).

In this particular case, it was extra curious because the ruling had just changed the law. If anything, the woman should be shouting Marriage is between two people of any sex. It’s the Law of the land!

In general, the “law=morality” heuristic (“heuristic” is a fancy word for “rule of thumb”) has the effect of adding a lot of inertia to political systems, which is most often not a bad thing. In this particular case, it is arguing for gay marriage.

Therefore, it doesn’t surprise me that support for Proposition 8, which would over-ride this ruling and deny gays the right to marry, is waning. People are taking their cues from the law, acting small-c conservatively, and accepting gay marriage.