The problem with the Prop 8 debate

The debate on California Proposition 8 has been as heated in the aftermath of its defeat as it was in the lead up to the election. Consider me baffled. I’m not baffled because I have a particularly strong view on the issue or because I personally have a dog in this hunt. I am partially baffled that we continue to debate an issue this publicly and vehemently after the voters have spoken, but I’m especially baffled when I consider the substance of the debate.
I have debated people on issues before, both formally and informally. Sometimes, if the other debater is skilled at articulating their points, I start seeing their point of view with more clarity and have occasionally modified my view on an issue or changed it substantially. We all develop opinions about issues based on a set of facts, assumptions and our biases. We can change our opinions when we’re introduced to new facts or start seeing certain facts in a different light. This is when debate is worthwhile, illuminating, enriching and sometimes even exciting. Changing minds is a powerful thing.
A simple example of this might be universal healthcare. You can absorb one set of facts: we are the only industrialized nation without it, we are wealthy enough to do it, and there are 46 million people without adequate health insurance. However, implementing such a program would increase the size of government, increase bureaucracy, and take the industry out of the private sector (to some extent). People can look at these sets of fact and make their own decisions. What they can’t do is deny the facts. It is a fact that at least 46 million Americans don’t have healthcare as it is also true that an increase in bureaucracy is unavoidable. Indisputable facts can be taken, stored, considered and then used to reach an ultimate opinion. And since people on both sides don’t dispute these facts, they can be used as a launching pad to reach common ground.
On the other hand, debates can also be boring, predictable and utterly useless when the both sides of an issue are completely disinterested in the other’s facts, assumptions and yes, their biases. If and when someone rejects the facts that you are using, common ground is impossible to reach. You have no starting point without any common facts. Debaters end up meandering into a circular discourse that goes nowhere because people are not dealing with the same set of facts. Proposition 8 and the morality of homosexuality in general, is just that kind of debate.
Anytime religion or religious text is used as a basis for argument, or as a fact, you have nowhere to go but down. That in no way denigrates anyone’s religious beliefs, it just means that one’s faith is difficult to cite as evidence in a debate that should be judged on the merits of the argument. Supporters of Prop 8 believe that homosexuality in a sin that cannot be condoned. That is their fact. The argument against Prop 8 is that homosexuals are deserving of the same right to marry as heterosexuals. The underlying question to this debate has not changed: Do you believe homosexuals are born gay or do they choose to be gay? One’s answer to that question will usually dictate their stance on this issue. It’s that simple. The two sides of this issue don’t agree on the answer and the debate is fruitless until they do.
That said, there are a couple of points I’d like to make about this issue. First, in 2000 Prop 22 (preventing the state from recognizing same sex marriage) passed 61%-39%. We can clearly see the direction the electorate is trending. 2nd, it would be great if the movement against same-sex marriage could use the term “heterosexual marriage” instead of “traditional marriage.” Traditional marriage means different things to different people. To some it means that white men should only marry white women, and to others (the ancient Greeks) it means that 30 year old men should marry thirteen year old girls. Not to mention their “tradition” of homosexual rights of passage with teenage boys. “Tradition” is not a legitimate reason to maintain or discontinue any practice.