Thursday 30 October 2014

Comment At "Thinking Taiwan" Article On "LGBT Rights"

Link. My comment as below...

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This kind of conflict arises because there are far too many areas of private and social life that are politicized. What good reason is there for the State to be involved in certifying marriages in the first place? Why can't marriages be certified by private institutions for both - or either - heterosexual and homosexual marriages? Let the market work; without the legitimizing monopoly of the State, this issue would wither away into irrelevancy.

The same point goes for education. Absent the political interference of State monopoly, parents could have greater choice over how their children are educated. Parents who wish their children to be informed about sexuality issues from a certain age could have their wish granted. Parents who wish their children not to learn about such issues until they are much older could have their wish granted. Everyone would be happy.

A necessity for this however would be the right to discriminate. The owners of a private college should be free to discriminate against homosexuals; but only if they refuse to accept politically-acquired funds. Similarly, the owners of other private colleges should be free to discriminate against certain Christian sects, but again, only if they refuse to accept politically-acquired funding. The owners of a gay bar should be free to ban all heterosexual people if they want, though this would almost certainly be a catastrophic business decision and one made in poor moral valuation. Similarly, commercial discrimination against minority groups may be in poor moral valuation and would likely also be poor business sense (not because of the outrage of the minority group in case, but because of the outrage of the friends in the majority).

People who discriminate unfairly against others - on their own limited powers - must face the consequences of their actions. People who seek to discriminate against others using the immense leverage of political power are inured from these consequences. It is the involvement of political power that is the real problem, not the existence of a few nutters who believe in fire and brimstone for "sodomites".

It is only by allowing discrimination that you will get less of it. The biggest obstacle to marriage freedom and educational freedom is the anti-rational passions of those who seek to use political power to restrict other people's choices.

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