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Good and Bad In Punnuru
06/27/2003

By way of agreement and disagreement with Ramesh Punnuru, I offer two quotes:

Most states have dropped their laws against sodomy, as they should have; but the Court somehow construes this process of change as something in which it needs to intervene rather than as evidence that it need not.

Well said. The court threw its arm around this issue and walked with it through the swinging door of change in such a way as to imply that it has the authority to decide when the door may open and close.

I agree with Justice Thomas that the Texas law was "uncommonly silly." We should rejoice in the fact of its demise, but not the manner.

I don't altogether disagree with this, inasmuch as I wouldn't support sodomy laws in my own state, but it strikes me as odd to suggest that "we should rejoice" over an issue such as this. Rejoice? Now, that's silly. And dangerous: consider the form that celebrations have probably taken.

I'll tell you: with every action on this front, I'm noticing myself moving further and further to the political and social right. I can't be alone in that, and I'm beginning to wonder whether the plea for magnanimity from the side currently winning the culture war shouldn't be seen more as advice. I don't buy the argument that social conservatives have forced homosexuals to go further in their quest than they would have if offered a compromise. However, I do worry about the backlash if they go too far. I'll promise you this: I'll be very vocal in demanding temperance, tolerance, and magnanimity from my side when and if it comes to that.

Posted by Justin Katz @ 09:47 AM EST