William J. Bennet is the author of the piece called Against Gay Marriage and was released to the Washington Post in May of 1996. In this essay he is arguing against the highly controversial topic of gay marriage in the United States. Bennet is a former Chairman of National Endowment for the Humanities (1981-85) and also served as secretary of Education under President Reagan (1989-90). Bennet raises some very significant topics in this piece; he states that gay marriage should not be legal because it causes serious social damage in the future. He also states that gay marriage is simply immoral and it will completely destroy they meaning of marriage, which is one of societys most important institutions. The last point he raises is that of sexual education in our school systems, children of all ages would have to be taught that heterosexual and homosexual acts are seen as equivalent in society. I agree with most of Bennets points and I strongly back his position on being against same-sex marriage.
Bennet does a great job in explaining the negative social aspects of same-sex marriage. This is probably his strongest argument through out the whole essay. He heavily emphasizes the fact that legally recognizing the union of gay and lesbian couples would represent a profound change in the meaning and definition of marriage. He strongly believes that it would destroy societys most important institution. I agree with Bennet when it comes to this topic. Marriage is already a fading topic in todays society with all of the people cheating and getting divorced, and to add same-sex marriage on top of that would be a complete disaster. America is in a time of rebuilding when it comes to marriage, fifty years ago marriage was looked upon as one of the most important traditions as an American citizen, now that tradition is slipping away. We cannot rebuild the tradition of marriage if we are supporting same-sex marriage, there are just to many people who disagree with that status and it will never help in restoring the old tradition.
Another very important topic that Bennet raises is that of sexual education in our school systems. If same-sex marriage is passed in our country, then all of our schools sexual education classes will be altered. Teachers will have to teach the students that heterosexual and homosexual acts are seen as equivalent in society. Even though most students will not want to hear about that, it will be enforced. Bennet uses very strong phrases in this topic such as intolerant bigots. He states that the parents of the children who only want their child to learn heterosexual acts will be seen as bigots in there community, they will necessarily be at odds with the new laws of matrimony and its derivative curriculum(Bennet 411). I personally think this is an extremely sensitive topic because of the pressure that gay and lesbian students receive in schools, they would probably not appreciate teachers teaching about it in class with students who do not care for it at all, it would make them feel out of place.
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I agree with almost all of his points through out the essay, especially his point about sex education in our school systems if same-sex marriage were passed. I would not really care if I had to learn about both homosexual acts because I do not care much for it, but I would feel pain for those students who were actually gay and lesbian and had to deal with that in school. They already deal with enough criticism in other places, they should not have to deal with it in school where it is supposed to be a safe learning environment for everyone, no matter what there sexual orientation. The one point that I do not agree with is his point on same-sex adoption. Bennet states that it is better for a child to grow up in a household with a man and a woman and not as good to grow up with two fathers or two mothers. I disagree with that statement because no matter what your parents sexual orientation is, as long as they love you and respect with whatever you do in life then that is fine with me. Your parents sexual orientation should not effect how you live your own life.
Bennet does an excellent job in achieving his goal as a writer; he is very persuading and accurate with his information, which makes it easy to follow. His purpose for writing this piece was to thoroughly explain the negative aspects of same-sex marriage and he does that with ease. He is very one sided, which may seem kind of bias, but he strongly believes in what he is saying which makes me as a reader trust his arguments and other readers will most likely do the same. He really does not have that many weaknesses throughout the essay, all of his points are valid and significant.
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