Divorcing Marriage

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http://www.mqup.mcgill.ca/book.php?bookid=1775


Divorcing Marriage
Unveiling the Dangers in Canada's New Social Experiment

Edited by Dan Cere and Douglas Farrow
Paper 0773528954
Release date: 2004-08-11
CA $24.95 | US $19.95 | UK £15.50

Cloth 0773528946
Release date: 2004-08-11
CA $65.00 | US $65.00 | UK £49.95

6 x 9
208pp

Is the decision the government of Canada is on the verge of taking to redefining marriage to include same-sex unions simply an act of fairness to gays and lesbians - another step in the evolution of a just society - or is it a hastily conceived social experiment that will undermine human rights, deflecting marriage from the support of children to the mere affirmation of sexual commitment between adults?

Divorcing Marriage asks that we pause and reflect on this question and take a closer look at both the arguments for redefinition and the arguments against it; to examine the effect of redefinition on children, on the law, on freedom of speech and religion, and on society as a whole.

Its authors are prominent scholars familiar with the debate that recent events have thrust to the fore on both sides of the border. Joining the editors are professors in law, ethics, political science, religion, and culture, including Margaret Somerville, Ted Morton, F.C. DeCoste, and Katherine Young.

Written for a broad readership, Divorcing Marriage sheds light on three central questions:

How did Canada come to the point of proposing a redefinition of marriage?

Where would such redefinition take society?

Is exchanging an opposite-sex institution for one built on "the union of two persons" mandated by the Charter and by equality rights?

The case will be brought to the Supreme Court of Canada on September the 8th.

Review quotes
"Divorcing Marriage makes a compelling case that romanticism plus rights has prompted Canada to embark on a radical social experiment absent the sober analysis and criticism that should be attendant on such efforts. Whatever one's view of gay marriage, this volume injects a strong dose of realism into a debate that tends to be driven by ideology and naïveté." Jean Bethke Elshtain, Professor of Social and Political Ethics, University of Chicago

"From this book, opponents of same-sex marriage may learn much with which to clarify their own arguments in public and be more persuasive. And because of this book, proponents of same-sex marriage will have to develop more rational arguments than they have proposed until now."
David Novak, Professor of Jewish Studies, University of Toronto

"For those of us who are concerned about judicial pre-emption of ordinary democratic political processes, this book is a welcome and well-reasoned contribution to the much-needed public discussion of what is
at stake in the current marriage debate." Mary Ann Glendon, Professor of Law Harvard University

"It can seem to the individual Canadian that the country is being carried away on a torrent of social change -with consequences difficult to foresee. We are redefining the rule of law, rethinking obligations to community and nation, and revising ideas of individual responsibility. We are revising the very idea of individuality! This book throws out an anchor. It is an invaluable contribution to the broad discussion of relations between government and society, Parliament and the Court, church and state." Janet Ajzenstat, Professor Emeritus, Political Science, McMaster University

"Divorcing Marriage unravels the legal mystagoguery that same-sex marriage is required by constitutional rights. This book is brilliant, timely, and essential. " John O'Sullivan, Editor, The National Interest

Daniel Cere is a director at the Institute for the Study of Marriage, Law & Culture, Montreal.

Douglas Farrow is Associate Professor of Christian Thought, McGill University.