Jason Kuznicki on the Purpose of Marriage

I read a post on Family Scholar's Blog, where David Blankenhorn discusses his recent debate with Andrew Sullivan and Sullivan's comments about it on his blog.

In a post related to the debate topic, What is Marriage?, Blankenhorn asks:

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that what happens in the U.S. regarding SSM will hinge essentially on our collective answer to the basic question, what is marriage? Is marriage essentially a private emotional bond between consenting adults, or is it also society’s most pro-child social institution?

Even when I put the two together, it still didn't add up.

Then I saw that Jason Kuznicki at Positive Liberty has a well thought out post: On Nurturing as the True Purpose of Marriage. He begins,

Here I argue that the reason for marriage is neither solely to produce children, nor to seek romantic fulfillment, nor merely to contract with the government for rights or benefits. I propose another model, arguing that it explains the institution of marriage much better than the common reasons given for it in the same-sex marriage debate.

It's well worth reading. Here are two of Jason's other posts that are also favorites of mine:

Without Pain or Fear or Guilt

How Not to Make Me Ex-Gay

Update: Jason has a followup post describing some of the responses he got to his first post.