William Marvel: Popular Science

Political debate can provoke dialectical vagaries more interesting than the topics of contention, and gay marriage offers a good example through a curious role reversal among its champions. The opposition conducts itself predictably, but proponents who traditionally preach tolerance now often evince utter contempt for those who disagree with them, while a supportive intelligentsia supplies inventive interpretations of the scientific inquiry it worships.

So severely are gay-marriage opponents attacked these days, economically and editorially, that the only person who dares offer such opinions publicly in this community is Tom McLaughlin. As a retired teacher he is financially immune to the business boycotts that have become the bludgeon of the gay-marriage movement, and he is old enough not to care what is said about him. Last month he lamented legislation designed to force small-business owners into accommodating gay weddings that fly in the face of their religious beliefs.