Reluctant Hat Tip

Aug 23rd, 2011

Meet Michael Barone. If you are unfamiliar with his work, he is quite the conservative stalwart. There is not a lot of common ground between his worldview and my own. That much is certain. However, yesterday he published a pretty strong defense of gay marriage over at the National Review. What makes it all the more remarkable is that he did so within the framework of his conservative principles.

"Opponents of same-sex marriage argue that it would weaken the institution of the family. Certainly there are problems there: Rising percentages of children are raised by one parent or none, and nearly 50 percent of teenage children in non-college households did not live with both parents. Yet outcomes for children raised in two-parent families are far better than for those who are not."

Here's the kicker:

"I think the institution of the family is less threatened by a few people who want to get married than by the very many more people who get divorced or who have children without getting married at all."

It's worth reading the whole piece. All the same, you might want to avoid the comments section.

Nevertheless, it is getting better.