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Marriage on Trial: The Case Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting
 
 
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Marriage on Trial: The Case Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting [Hardcover]

Glenn T. Stanton (Author), Dr. Bill Maier (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)


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Book Description

September 9, 2004
With the debate over same-sex marriage boiling over into court action, civil demonstration and even legislative debates and proposals, you may think you've heard all of the arguments pro and con on this divisive issue.But what you probably haven't heard are concrete, rational reasons why same-sex marriage is or is not a good idea for individuals and communities. Dr. Bill Maier and Glenn T. Stanton, both experts in the fields of psychology and sociology, offer such reasons. Arguing against same-sex marriage and parenting in Marriage on Trial, they draw on current social science research to offer clear and cogent answers to the questions at the center of the debate, including
  • Is marriage a public or private matter?
  • Can marriage be redefined, legally and socially?
  • How will allowing marriage between homosexuals affect families and communities?
  • How does same-sex parenting affect children?
Helping you sift through the emotion, the rhetoric and the myths, Stanton and Maier provide in this book a compelling counter-argument to those who advocate homosexual marriage and a thought-provoking assessment of the psychological and sociological harm that homosexual marriage (if legalized and legitimized) will do to communities and children.


Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Why do we have to be so narrow in our definition of marriage?

Glenn Stanton and Dr. Bill Maier explain: ""Because nature is narrow in its definition of marriage, and for very good reason. . . . Nature does not tolerate very much diversity in the form of family, and any attempt to redefine marriage will be to our detriment. No society has ever prospered under a smorgasbord mentality of family life where people pick and choose forms that suit their individual tastes. To protect the common good, societies must enforce narrow parameters nature has given humans. Same-sex marriage will simply be the next chapter in a long line of failed social experiments with marriage and the family that have hurt people." (pages 30, 31)

From the Inside Flap

Have you ever wondered how to answer questions like these?

"Don't gays have the same right to marry that homosexuals do?"

"Isn't banning gays from marrying just like banning interracial marriage?"

"How can gay marriage be a threat to heterosexual marriage?"

Why should anyone object to same-sex marriage and parenting? In "Marriage on Trial" Glenn Stanton and psychologist Bill Maier explain why the same-sex family is not a good idea. Based on current social science research the authors show that gay "marriage" and the single-sex family fall far short of offering to children in particular and society in general the same benefits as marriage. Maier and Stanton provide clear counter-arguments to those who advocate gay marriage and make the case that legalizing this arrangement will very likely be harmful to the next generation. This book will help any reader understand the real issues and make the case for the unique and irreplacable benefits of traditional marriage.


Product Details

  • Hardcover: 199 pages
  • Publisher: IVP Books (September 9, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0830832742
  • ISBN-13: 978-0830832743
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Glenn is the Director for Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family and a research fellow at the Institute of Marriage and Family in Ottawa. He debates and lectures extensively on gender, sexuality, marriage and parenting at universities and churches around the country. He served the George W. Bush administration for many years as a consultant on increasing fatherhood involvement in the Head Start program.

He and his wife Jacqueline have five endlessly growing kids and they all live relatively happily in the shadow of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

 

Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Compassionate societies never create fatherless and motherless families, January 27, 2006
By 
William T. Brewer (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Marriage on Trial: The Case Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting (Hardcover)
According to Stanton and Maier, compassionate societies never create fatherless and motherless families . . . (my comments in parenthesis)

A same-sex family is never the answer to a child's developmental problems. (One way to inoculate a fatherless child from the ill-effects of not having a father is for society to have a clear idea of what a good father is. Same-sex marriage denies even that benefit to the fatherless.)

The push for same-sex families will subject generations of children to an uncontrolled, ill-advised social experiment to meet the "needs" of homosexual adults. (Children will be but "trophies" that symbolize achievement of a certain status for anxious gays working out psychological issues -- the same way one sometimes sees a luxury automobile parked in front of a run-down shack -- an "aspirin on wheels.")

Homosexual adoption is not necessary to provide homes for orphaned children. Same-sex marriage is not about providing rights or physical resources to children. No child in a same-sex family would ever ask, "Why don't we have the same rights as other families." Instead, they ask "Why don't I have a daddy?" or "Why don't I have a mommy?" (There are many heterosexual families looking to adopt children, but the legal system often interferes, making some children practically "unadoptable.")

Male and female are not "Mr. Potato Heads" where the cores are all the same and only the externals are different. Gender matters.

Endorsements of same-sex families by professional organizations are traceable to gay activism, not science. (Scientists are ill-equipped to deal with the philosophical and emotional arguments used by gay activists -- so they "cave.")

A common challenge of same-sex family proponents is "how does my family situation hurt you." (I would use the illustration of currency. One person counterfeiting a $20 bill doesn't appreciably depreciate a genuine $20 bill -- but an initiative to make monopoly money equal to legal tender would have enormous impact. The push for gay marriage makes counterfeit relationships equal to legitimate ones and diminishes every marriage)

Traditional marriage has huge public benefits backed up by overwhelming scientific evidence. Homosexual marriage will have enormous, negative public consequences. (If homosexuality were held to the same standard of public harm as smoking, there would be no public debate. Instead, we would have attorneys general of the states bringing lawsuits that would eventually bankrupt pro-homosexual organizations.)

Arguments for same-sex marriage also break down barriers to other kinds of marriage. The first couple in line in Massachusetts for a same-sex marriage license had an "open relationship." (In recognizing same-sex marriage, society will have leap-frogged over polygamy into a more radical form of sexual relationship. Consistency will demand legalization of polygamy since it's less extreme than what will have already been accomplished in allowing gays to marry.)

The debate over same-sex marriage has been poisoned by name calling. Concerns about gay marriage cannot be reduced simply to "homophobia." Many gays recognize the social harm gay marriage would bring and are therefore against gay marriage.

Gay advocates conflate same-sex marriage with interracial marriage -- but saying "I have a mommy who's a (particular race)" is radically different than saying "I have a mommy who's a man."

If legalized, same-sex marriage will not just be acceptable in public schooling; it will be relentlessly indoctrinated. (Humans have a perverse impulse to "worship" the unnatural.) Promotion of traditional marriage will eventually be labeled as "hate speech" if same-sex marriage becomes legal. We've already seen it in Sweden and in Canada.

-- Bill Brewer
[...]

Glen Stanton is director of social research and cultural affairs, and senior analyst for marriage and sexuality, at Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is the author of Why Marriage Matters and a contributor to many books, including Same-Sex Marriage: The Moral and Legal Debate. His book My Crazy, Imperfect Christian Family explores the virtue of imperfect families and the sacredness of the mundaneness of family life. Stanton has published articles in Christianity Today, the American Enterprise, National Forum, Citizen, Dr. Laura's Perspective, Christian American, and The Sunday Times. He is also a winner of the 2001 Amy Foundation Writing Award and is featured in the PBS documentary Affluenza. As a media spokesperson for Focus on the Family, he has been interviewed by hundreds of print and media outlets, including MSNBC and CNN, and he has been quoted in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA TODAY, Salon.com, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, the Washington Blade and the Advocate.

Bill Maier is a clinical psychologist and serves as vice president and psychologist-in-residence at Focus on the Family. He hosts the national Weekend Magazine radio program and The Family Minute with Dr. Bill Maier. He is a regular contributor to Focus on the Family magazine and has written for Current Thoughts and Trends, Today's Christian Woman, the Houston Chronicle and the Colorado Springs Gazette. Maier received his master's and doctoral degrees from the Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University. He has served at respected institutions such as Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Camarillo State Hospital and the Long Beach Child Guidance Center. He has extensive experience in parent training and education, and his major area of research interest is the impact of cultural trends on child development and family functioning.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Misunderstood, November 9, 2011
By 
A. MUELLER "Mitch" (West Bend, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Marriage on Trial: The Case Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting (Hardcover)
Apart from ad hominem attacks on the author's personal character, a reviewer of this book must admit that the points made in this book are well taken. On an charged issue like marriage, most people are not willing to suspent their suspicions and biases to fully understand what the other side is really saying. If you have already made up your mind on the issue and you are just looking to pick a fight - this book will be a waste of your time.

The Author points out a lot of flaws in the arguments supporting same sex marraige such as the interracial marraige analogy, the "how will this affect you?" argument, and various other postmodern stances on marriage. One of the most important points he makes is that marriage seves several functions (raise children, enculture men, etc) that are best performed by a union involving both sexes.

His slippery slope argument is quite strong. Namely that if marriage is definted as a right for anyone who wants it - whats to say that a someone can't marry their sibling, that a 50 year old can't marry a 12 year old, that 4 men can't get married to eachother? He exposes that his opponents have no good answer to this question except recourse to their own personal beliefs - recourse I might add, which is not afforded to people on his side of the issue.
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31 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Consider this book if you are open minded and fair, October 18, 2004
This review is from: Marriage on Trial: The Case Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting (Hardcover)
Stanton and Maier have produced a book that makes a well documented case for traditional marriage. The book is very well written with numerous references for further study and research. The book is organized around most of the contemporary questions people ask about same sex marriage and homosexuality in general. This is not only a good book concerning the rationale for traditional marriage but is infomative concerning the traditional view of homosexuality.

Despite the clear value framework of this book, the authors do not show disrespect for gay and lesbian identified people. On the contrary, the book is clear about principles but the authors convey compassion for people.

Many people think that are no divisions within the gay and lesbian community concerning same sex marriage. This book documents the reality that not all of those who are gay want same sex marriage legally recognized.

The book is very well organized and despite the scholarly foundations, quite readable.

In reading the reviews written previous to mine, I cannot believe they read the same book. The authors take great pains to document their points and use good social science research to do so.

If you are open minded concerning this subject, you will want to get this book as an aspect of your investigation.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
You're at lunch with a coworker who is openly homosexual. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
redefining marriage, reorientation therapy, natural marriage, change their sexual orientation, marriage advocates, children need mothers, healthy child development, gay leaders, mental health organizations, gay marriage
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, United States, Free Press, Life Without Father, Basic Books, David Popenoe, Issue of Justice, Judith Wallerstein, Scott Coltrane, Varieties of Sexual Experience, American Sociological Review, Andrew Sullivan, Archives of General Psychiatry, Children Just Need Loving Parents, Lawrence Erlbaum, Letting Homosexuals Marry, Anthropological Perspective, Archives of Sexual Behavior, Colorado Springs, Human Rights Campaign, Importance of Father Love, Mavis Hetherington, National Health Interview Survey, Psychology Today, Review of General Psychology
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