"Marriages" that aren't.(Letters To The Editor)(Letter to the Editor)

In "How to Protect Marriage" (August 9 issue), author George Detweiler always uses quotes around the word "marriage" when it is used in this context of homosexuals. The quotation marks are appropriate--but let's go back to the root of the problem, using a simple fairy tale to illustrate a critical point.

All the "gay marriage" talk reminds me of the timeless story of "The Emperor's New Clothes." I'm sure most readers know this tale. A vain and wasteful emperor was conned by some scheming weavers into allowing them to make him special clothing for an upcoming procession through town. The clothing would be made from a special miraculous material. There was a funny thing about the material, however; it was invisible to those who were unfit for office or who were extraordinarily simple-minded. As the new garments were being woven, all who initially looked at the loom, although none could see even a stitch of material, agreed that the fabric was indeed beautiful and of worthy quality for their Emperor. (After all, they did not want to be thought of as unfit for their positions, or simple-minded.) When the garments were finished by the weavers, the Emperor put them on, and exclaimed how splendid they looked and how well they fit. (Of course, he could see nothing.) The Emperor, to the oohs and ahs of his subjects, ...