Broadcaster Press 03 April 15, 2014 www.broadcasteronline.com Speaker: Gay marriage a conservative idea By Travis Gulbrandson travis.gulbrandson@plaintalk.net “Same-sex marriage” and “conservative” are not terms most people would associate with one another. Nonetheless, one recent visitor to the University of South Dakota said that, at its base, same-sex marriage a conservative idea. “Profoundly conservative,” in fact. “It’s occurred to me that gay people are practically the last people in America who still believe in marriage, who believe in its power, who speak in almost poetic ways about its ability to change a person’s life for the better,” said Dale Carpenter, Earl R. Larson professor of civil rights and civil liberties law at the University of Minnesota School of Law. “There’s a good reason for that. That’s because you really can’t make the case for same-sex marriage without making the case for marriage, and that is what they have been doing now for quite some time,” Carpenter said. “These families are saying ‘yes’ to a profoundly conservative and traditionalizing social institution, and the question is, when will conservatives take ‘yes’ for an answer?” Carpenter made his comments Monday afternoon as part of the second annual Lavender Lecture at the USD School of Law. Founded by the student group OUTlaws, the Lavender Lecture began last year as a venue to bring discussion and education to USD on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues and the law. Carpenter said the proponents of same-sex marriage are taking their cues from political theorist Edmund Burke, the ideas of whom were ideologically and philosophically conservative. “(Burkeanism) basically means an approach to change that respects a society’s history and its traditions, and wants change to come incrementally if it’s going to come at all,” Carpenter said. Burke’s insights were not a command to resist all change, but an urging to base change on actual lived experience rather than abstract thought, Carpenter said. “The debate over gay marriage for the past 25 years had been for along time largely a dual of abstractions, of hopes, of fears, of unsupported claims, of hypotheticals,” Carpenter said. “That has been true on both sides of the debate, although it has to be added that for gay families, this is very far from an abstract debate.” It’s becoming less so for much of the country, as well. Seventeen states now have a full recognition of same-sex marriages, affecting approximately 40 percent of the population, Carpenter said. “The period of abstract debate, where someone can just walk into a room and ask a lot of questions and present doomsday scenarios, has come to an end,” he said. “The debate has increasingly become an empirical one, and in that debate, an American-style federalism where states have decided what kind of recognition they’re going to give to same-sex couples, is ideal. “It is something from which the rest of us can derive lessons,” he said. In the states where samesex marriage is recognized, it’s been business as usual, he said. In places like Scandinavia where it has been legal for approximately 20 years, marriage rates as a whole are up, marriages are longer-lasting, more stable and more monogamous, Carpenter said. By contrast, the “slippery slope” of polygamy, incest and inter-species relationships has not come to pass, he said. As more gays and lesbians have gotten married and raised children, the roles in the debate have been reversed, Carpenter said. “Same-sex marriage advocates increasingly rely on the conditions that have been created by a Burkean, slow incremental process of change over decades,” he said. “Opponents of samesex marriage continue to rest on theories or essentialist ideas about what marriage or the nature of marriage is.” Carpenter said the national debate on same-sex marriage is the result of the converging of two longterm trends that shape both American society and the law. They are the trends in marriage law and practice as a whole, and the treatment of homosexuals, he said. Opponents of same-sex marriage have said that recognizing such relationships would “radically redefine” marriage, Carpenter said. “The truth is that heterosexuals have radically redefined marriage over the past 100-250 years,” he said. Among other advances, there is now equality between husbands and wives in the eyes of the law, there has been an unlinking of marriage and procreation, and there is more of an emphasis on marrying for romance, rather than as a way to gain property and wealth, or to create clear lines of inheritance, Carpenter said. In addition, Carpenter said there have been “sweeping legal and cultural changes” that resulted in the decriminalization and demedicalization of homosexual behavior, and an increase in civil rights laws. Full recognition of samesex marriage is another step in this gradual process of change, he said. “Same-sex marriage, we have reason to believe, will help to improve and has helped to improve the lives of millions of our fellow citizens, including children, without the risk of harming anyone else,” Carpenter said. “It’s one of those rare debates of policy where we have a win-win, where someone doesn’t have to lose in order for someone else to win.” One & two bedroom apartments. Scotland Apartments, 821 Main St. Scotland, SD 57059. Laundry. Rental assistance available to those who qualify. For appointments or applications please call 605-624-5218 or visit www.oakleafpm.com. Equal Housing Opportunity 1100 Personals - 1101 Messages BLADDER CANCER DIAGNOSIS? If you used the Type 2 diabetes drug ACTOS between 2000 and the present time and developed bladder cancer, you may be entitled to compensation. Call Attorney Charles H. Johnson 1-800-535-5727. 1101 Announcements Events BERGEN LUTHERAN Church: “The little white church on Timber Road.” Worship 9:00 a.m. Sunday School 10:15 a.m. Pastor Ralph Egbert Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church, 995 N. Sioux Point Road, Dakota Dunes, SD. Weekend Masses: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.; Sunday, 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. BRULE Creek Lutheran Church, Elk Point, SD: Worship Service 11:00am, Sunday School 9:45am to 10:45am. CHRIST OUR SAVIOR Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod: Worship Sunday 6:00 p.m., Bible Study Tuesday, 9:00 p.m., Neuharth Center, 624-5398 or 1-800-998-1234 CHURCH OF CHRIST, 102 Prosp: Sunday Worship 10:00 a.m.; Bible Study 9:00 a.m.; Bible Study 12:00 noon; Wednesday Night Classes, 7:00 p.m. Concordia Lutheran Church (LC-MS) 7 South University Street, Vermillion. Divine Service – Sunday, 10:30 a.m.; Sunday School – Sunday, 9:00 a.m. Pastor Samuel Needham. Contact us at (605) 624-3459 or at lcmsvermillion.org CORNERSTONE CHURCH: A Place To Grow: Located at the corner of Crawford & Cherry St. Celebration Service: Sunday during the School year 9:00am and 10:30am (subject to change during holidays) in the summer Sunday 10 AM. Check us out at cornerstonesd.org or call (624-8809) for further information. DALESBURG BAPTIST Church 30503 466th Ave., Beresford, Pastor Darren Regehr. 9:45am, Sunday School; 11:00am, Morning Worship; Mid-week Services Wednesdays, 7:00pm. (605)253-2622. Announcements - 1101 Events Dalesburg Lutheran Church: 12 miles North of Vermillion on University Road. Worship Services 9:15 a.m. Sunday School 10:45 a.m. Website: www.dalesburglutheran.org Elk Point Baptist Church. Sunday worship at 11:00am, Tuesday evening Bible study at 7:00pm. 101 North Green St., Elk Point, SD 57069. (605)222-1981 FAITH FELLOWSHIP of the Open Bible on Bypass 50 and Highway 19: Sunday Celebration 10:30 a.m. Pastor Tony Armbrust, 624-2921. 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Adult?s and Children?s Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Sunday Worship 10:45 a.m. Prayer Meeting Wednesday Night 7 p.m. The United Church of Christ Congregational, Highway 12 Newcastle, NE. Worship: 5:00 p.m. Saturday. Pastor Gary Kimm. Come join us! Announcements Events HILLSIDE COMMUNITY CHURCH 1800 Constance Dr. Worship Sept.-May 10:30a.m. AWANA Small groups; 9-10:15 Worship May-August 10a.m., 6 0 5 - 6 2 4 - 4 8 6 2 , www.hillside-cc.com Like us on Facebook! IMMANUAL Lutheran Church, Elk Point, SD: Worship Service 9:00 a.m., Sunday School 10:00 a.m. KOMSTAD COVENANT Church, Rural Beresford and Centerville, SD: Matt Styles, Pastor. 18 miles north on University Road. Phone 563-2402. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship Service 11 a.m. PLEASANT VALLEY Lutheran Church, Rural Vermillion: Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship Service 10:30 a.m., Holy Communion First Sunday of every month. All welcome. PROVIDENCE REFORMED Church, 830 Madison: Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m. “We Welcome You To Historic Protestant Worship And Fellowship.” ST. AGNES Church, 416 Walker St., Fr. John Fischer: St. Agnes Church and Parish Office, tele. 624-4478. St. Agnes Rectory, 505 Catalina, tele. 624-1995. Mass schedule: 5 p.m. Saturday, 8:00 a.m. and 10:30a.m. Sunday, Weekday Masses – consult weekly bulletin; Sacrament of Penance, Saturday 4-4:45p.m. ST. PAUL?S Episcopal Church, corner of Main and Linden. Sunday: nursery available. 10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist. 11:00 a.m. coffee hour. Call 624-3379 for more info. Sunday evening Experience at ONE HOUR is comprised of two primary elements: powerful worship and a life-changing message. Worship at ONE HOUR is led by a talented live band in a style that is consistent with todays culture and a relevant teaching message from LifeChurch.tv?s senior pastor, Craig Groeschel, via video broadcast. 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