It is in the state's interest, Charles Cooper, lawyer for ProtectMarriage.com, told the Supreme Court, to keep marriage heterosexual in order to regulate procreation.
The opponents of same-sex marriage say that the purpose of marriage, fundamentally, is procreation, and that's what's worthy of honoring and recognizing and encouraging.
In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten-killing?
And the defenders of same-sex marriage say no, procreation is not the only purpose of marriage; what about a lifelong, mutual, loving commitment? That's really what marriage is about.
In fact, sexual intimacy serves many of life's most basic purposes: some times procreation, but also stress reduction, maintaining healthy relationships, social bonding, and the expression of love, and overall fulfillment.
" Well, but, " said I, " the man of the nineteenth century would say there is a natural desire towards the procreation of children, and a natural desire not to work" .
John Paul II affirmed that the Church stands for " a culture of life" against a " culture of death" -taking an approach to human flourishing grounded in a fixed view of gender roles, marriage, and procreation.
Indeed, many of our elders seem to have already made up their minds that no single person can ever be happy, no happily dating couple should wait longer to get married and no married couple should delay procreation.