The essays’ main argument is built around Colson’s belief that legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to the decoupling of marriage, and ultimately result in what he describes as: “an explosive increase in family collapse, out of wedlock births – and crime. ” Colson shares his personal experiences as a prison minister, various studies, statistics, and real world examples to elucidate the reasons behind his controversial stance on marital rights.
Although the essay provides a variety of different types of evidence to illustrate Colson’s position on the subject, it is through sharing his personal experiences from working thirty years as a prison minister that he gains credibility on the subject. Colson shares with the reader how he was a first hand witness to what he calls, “the disastrous consequences of family breakdown – in the lives of thousands of delinquents. His personal accounts are supplemented by shocking statistics and studies done to gauge the impact of family breakdown on youth, specifically males. Among these statistics, Colson lists that: “Boys who grow up without fathers are twice as likely as other boys to end up in prison, and sixty percent of rapists and 72 percent of adolescent murderers never knew or lived with their fathers, and girls raised without a father in the home are five times more likely to become mothers while still adolescents.
The Essay on Father and Child: Personal Analysis
The first person narrative poem ‘Father and child’ by Gwen Harwood, is structured in two sections each with seven stanzas and six lines. It focuses on an individuals revolt against authority and the consequences of such an action, as well as an insinuation of the imminent death of a parent. Harwood uses persuasive and implicit means to “mirror” the loss of innocence and its effect on the sense of ...
He continues to mention additional studies which illustrate the link between children who come from broken homes and the development of behavioral problems and poor academic performance throughout the child’s lifetime. While the evidence provided by Colson effectively demonstrates the existence of a direct correlation between criminal activity and broken families, there is little information present to allow the reader to directly link the evidence presented as being applicable to the disadvantages that would be imposed on children raised by same-sex couples.
Through the studies and statistics he provides, Colson shows the undeniably crucial role that fathers play in the development of their children, and therefore it can be indirectly inferred through this information that perhaps a same sex couple comprised of two females would not be able to create the most advantageous environment in which to raise a child.
However, this brings up the question as to what disadvantages would be imposed on a child raised by two fathers? While ample evidence is provided to solidify his argument for the importance of a father’s presence during childhood, there is none that would similarly suggest the importance of a mother’s presence during a child’s upbringing, and thus creates a significant gap in the essay’s argument suggesting the presence of a premature judgment.
In an attempt to demonstrate the relevance behind his shared experiences and observations, Colson attempts to bridge the gap in his evidence by citing Stanley Kurtz of the Hoover Institution and his reference to the events that took place in Norway after the country amended existing legislation to include same-sex couples. He writes that, according to Stanley Kurtz, “It follows that once marriage is redefined to accommodate same-sex couples, that change cannot help but lock in and reinforce the very cultural separation between marriage and parenthood that makes gay marriage conceivable to begin with. In his original thesis, Colson states that allowing same sex marriage would not only result in increased criminal activity as a consequence of family breakdown, but would also lead to an increase in the amount of out of wedlock childbirths. To expatiate upon the latter part of his thesis, Colson enlightens the reader by sharing the events that took place in Norway following the legalization of same-sex marriage in 1993. Prior to the imposition of same-sex marriage, Colson states that, “Norwegians enjoyed low out of wedlock birth rate.
The Report on Pre-Selecting Sex of Children
------------------------------------------------- Pre-selecting sex of children Generations of parents-to-be have hoped and prayed for a baby of a particular gender (often in practice, for a boy, as cultural factors such as restricting inheritance of property and the family name to male heirs, restrictions on female economic activity, and the heavy cost of dowries when daughters are married have ...
After the imposition of same-sex marriage, Norway’s out of wedlock birth rate shot up as the link between marriage and child bearing was broken and cohabitation became the norm. ” While indeed relevant to the argument, the out of wedlock birth rate statistic alone lacked the potency necessary to successfully persuade the reader of the threat imposed by legalizing same-sex marriage. The single specific statistic does not provide enough information to justify Colson’s claim that legalizing same sex marriage would result in family breakdown and criminal activity as suggested by his thesis.
As a result, the statistic is largely inefficacious since it does not provide any additional background information to further illustrate that the spike in out of wedlock birth rates experienced by Norway was in fact, a direct result of the legalization of same-sex marriage. Consequently, this error in procedure leaves the premise of Colson’s argument vulnerable to scrutiny in addition to suggesting the presence of a post hoc fallacy, as he does not offer any reasons to rule out that the sequence of events detailed may be purely coincidental.
Nevertheless, Charles Colson’s “Gay Marriage: Societal Suicide” is a thought provoking essay that addresses some of the concerns associated with the controversial issue of same-sex marriage. While the essay falls short of being a hard hitting and trenchant argument through the use of unwarranted assumptions, post hoc fallacy, and hasty conclusions, the combination of personal experiences and studies shared by Colson stimulates the mind and generates a far reaching interest in the subject.
