07.02a. Divorce and Conservatives. I've talked before
about the
abolition of heterosexual marriage and divorce in
natural vs. divine law, and cited the excellent
Touchstone
article on the delinquency of the conservative churches on this issue. I just came
across the
Williams list of
divorced prominent Republicans. I've modified it to get the list below:
Ronald Reagan - divorced, but apparently against his
desire.
Whoever came up with the list apparently did it to argue for homosexual "marriage",
reasoning that if supporters of traditional marriage were divorced themselves, their
position had to be wrong. That is a non sequitur. First, we would need to know which of
the divorces above were, like Ronald Reagan's, justified by the behavior of the
politician's wife. Second, we would need to know whether the politician divorced at an
early age, but then repented-- John Kerry volunteered for the Vietnam War, but that
doesn't mean he is hypocritical in now being a dove. Third, and most important, the
remaining cases of divorce (which might still be almost all of them-- I don't know)
don't show that the politicians are wrong in their current policy view. At most, it
shows that they are hypocritical, an important but different point. Moreover, it might
not even show hypocrisy. A person could believe in unilateral no-fault divorce and still
oppose men marrying each other, just as he could believe in unilateral no-fault divorce
and still oppose men marrying dogs. His reasoning need not be "the sanctity of marriage"
in some purist sense, but something else entirely. Indeed, terms like "the sanctity of
marriage" or "the defense of marriage" are vague enough that I consider them mere
shorthand for particular political positions rather than having any clear connection to
their literal meanings.
Bob Dole--divorced
Newt Gingrich - divorced his wife who was dying of cancer.
Dick Armey - House Majority Leader - divorced.
Senator Phil Gramm of Texas - divorced.
Governor John Engler of Michigan - divorced.
Governor Pete Wilson of California - divorced.
George Will - divorced.
Senator Lauch Faircloth - divorced.
Rush Limbaugh - and his current wife, Marta, have six marriages and
four
divorces between them. Soon to divorce Marta, I think.
Senator Bob Barr of Georgia - not yet 50 years old, has been married
three
times. He had the audacity to author and push the "Defense of
Marriage Act."
The current joke making the rounds on Capitol Hill is "Bob Barr -
WHICH
marriage are you defending?!?)
Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York - divorced.
Senator John Warner of Virginia - divorced Elizabeth Taylor.
Governor George Allen of Virginia - divorced.
Representative Helen Chenoweth of Idaho - divorced.
Senator John McCain of Arizona - divorced.
Representative John Kasich of Ohio - divorced.
Representative Susan Molinari of New York (Republican National
Convention
Keynote Speaker) - divorced.
Nelson Rockefeller -- may have lost a presidential nomination because of his divorce.
I'd be interested in a list of Democratic politicians who have been divorced, too.
Even more interesting would be some information on which politicians have been divorced
for bad reasons.
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