AN ARGUMENT AGAINST CIVIL UNIONS
P1. Blurring the meaning of an action blurs the moral permissibility of that action
P2. Civil unions blur the meaning of fornication and adultery
C. Therefore civil unions blur the moral permissibility of fornication and adultery
CONSERVATIVE COMMENTARY
Fornication is sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other and is generally understood to be wrong. Is sexual intercourse between two people in a civil union still unambiguously “fornication” and still unambiguously understood to be wrong?
Many who would usually agree that fornication is always wrong would be unsure whether sexual intercourse between two people in a civil union is actually wrong and whether “fornication” is always wrong.
Similarly the definition of adultery is tied to marriage so it is not always clear how the meaning and moral permissibility of “adultery” is impacted by civil unions.