Product Description

As the debate escalates over same-sex marriage and a constitutional marriage amendment, you typically hear about people being either for or against the issue. We rarely, however, hear concrete reasons why same-sex marriage is or is not a good idea. Using current social science research, Glenn T. Stanton and Dr. Bill Maier offer such a case against same-sex marriage and parenting in their book "Marriage on Trial: The Case Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting." Using a question-answer format, they provide answers to the issues at the center of the debate, including

*How does homosexual marriage threaten your family?

*Do we have the right (or ability) to redefine marriage so it is elastic enough to include any grouping of adults, regardless of gender?

*What is the public purpose of marriage?

*Don’t children just need loving, caring parents, regardless of gender?

Stanton and Maier provide clear counter-arguments to those who advocate gay marriage, and they make the well-reasoned case that legalizing this arrangement will very likely be harmful to the larger community and the next generation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #535847 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 198 pages

From the Author
Why do we have to be so narrow in our definition of marriage?

Glenn Stanton and Dr. Bill Maier explain: ""Because nature is narrow in its definition of marriage, and for very good reason. . . . Nature does not tolerate very much diversity in the form of family, and any attempt to redefine marriage will be to our detriment. No society has ever prospered under a smorgasbord mentality of family life where people pick and choose forms that suit their individual tastes. To protect the common good, societies must enforce narrow parameters nature has given humans. Same-sex marriage will simply be the next chapter in a long line of failed social experiments with marriage and the family that have hurt people." (pages 30, 31)

From the Inside Flap
Have you ever wondered how to answer questions like these?

"Don't gays have the same right to marry that homosexuals do?"

"Isn't banning gays from marrying just like banning interracial marriage?"

"How can gay marriage be a threat to heterosexual marriage?"

Why should anyone object to same-sex marriage and parenting? In "Marriage on Trial" Glenn Stanton and psychologist Bill Maier explain why the same-sex family is not a good idea. Based on current social science research the authors show that gay "marriage" and the single-sex family fall far short of offering to children in particular and society in general the same benefits as marriage. Maier and Stanton provide clear counter-arguments to those who advocate gay marriage and make the case that legalizing this arrangement will very likely be harmful to the next generation. This book will help any reader understand the real issues and make the case for the unique and irreplacable benefits of traditional marriage.

About the Author
Glenn T. Stanton is director of social research and cultural affairs and senior analyst for marriage and sexuality at Focus on the Family.

Dr. Bill Maier is a child and family psychologist who serves as vice president of Focus on the Family and as its psychologist in residence.

Customer Reviews

Consider this book if you are open minded and fair
Stanton and Maier have produced a book that makes a well documented case for traditional marriage. The book is very well written with numerous references for further study and research. The book is organized around most of the contemporary questions people ask about same sex marriage and homosexuality in general. This is not only a good book concerning the rationale for traditional marriage but is infomative concerning the traditional view of homosexuality.

Despite the clear value framework of this book, the authors do not show disrespect for gay and lesbian identified people. On the contrary, the book is clear about principles but the authors convey compassion for people.

Many people think that are no divisions within the gay and lesbian community concerning same sex marriage. This book documents the reality that not all of those who are gay want same sex marriage legally recognized.

The book is very well organized and despite the scholarly foundations, quite readable.

In reading the reviews written previous to mine, I cannot believe they read the same book. The authors take great pains to document their points and use good social science research to do so.

If you are open minded concerning this subject, you will want to get this book as an aspect of your investigation.

Read this book!
Stanton nails it! This book is a must read for anyone who cares about the attack on family that is taking place in the US today!

Not PC, but informative and helpful -- especially for gays.
I usually approach this testy subject with a few disclaimers:
a) Some of my best friends are gay, and I do not condemn homosexuality;
b) I do not hate all people who are unlike me; and
c) I do not wake up early to eat small children and pets, nor do I set fire to my neighbor's house.

Having noted that, I found this book by Stanton and Maier (another disclosure: I am a journalistic colleague of Maier's) to be valuable both for gays and straights with religious affinities.

There are several obvious clues that Amazon reviewers who trashed this book below could not be bothered to read it, and likely skimmed the descriptive info supplied on this site before launching into reductionist talking points.

The dominant narrative in today's discussions of homosexuality is tied to civil rights. Who, after all, doesn't believe that all humans deserve equal dignity? And certainly, mainstream culture and religious folks like myself, Stanton and Maier must apologize for the lack of dignity extended in the past toward gays and lesbians.

The problem is that many people manipulate this to preempt thoughtful attempts to spur legitimate discussion within our society about sexual ethics, interrelational psychology, child-rearing and other issues. Maier and Stanton have nonetheless used mainstream university studies and many gay writings themselves to erode the conventional wisdom about gay marriage and same-sex parenting. (For instance, it really does "catch" -- even gay-friendly sociologists have found that children adopted by same-sex parents will have a far higher tendency to consider homosexual activity for themselves; maybe that's perfectly fine, but that's not what we've been taught to believe on account of the discounted-but-still-pervasive-and-PC "genetic" basis for homosexuality.)

Maier and Stanton note that the civil rights aspects of the gay movement are alreading growing cloudy. Soon the civil-rights issues will give way entirely to other issues. Already, there is a battle raging within the homosexual community about whether gay marriage is a civil-rights *nightmare,* a "dangerous" effort to shoehorn gays into straight concepts of family and monogamy.

The authors find several distinct camps within the gay community, each with radically different prescriptions for gays and for society. The most surprising of these camps are those gay academics who have demanded respect for gays while still *protecting* society's interest in traditional nuclear family structures.

It is fine for a gay person or a straight person to reject this book's prescriptions for society, for the gay community and for individual gays. But these arguments merit close scrutiny and intellectual integrity, not propagandistic preemptions that are far too common on Amazon these days.