Kairos for All

In this month’s New York Times Magazine, conservative columnist Bill Keller opines that there is no better time than now for the GOP to engage in tacking “the problem of gay marriage”. Like a lot of conservatives, Bill Keller believes marriage as an institution is sort of outdated and miscreated in the first place. He feels that marriage is a sacrament that should be created in the church, not a courtroom… instead of marriage he prefers a sort of “civil union for all” which would contract the benefits of a traditional marriage, but strip the religious sanctimony from the state status.

Keller says the 2012 Presidential election won’t hinge on gay marriage, so why spend an entire New York Times Magazine full color bleed op-ed bit on it in the middle of an all out-election cycle? Because Keller believes it could play a major role.

“Thinking kairotically is to be attuned to the total context of a situation in order to act the right way at the right moment,” according to our text Writing Arguments (Ramage, 118). He points out the trend of states creating “more egalitarian marriage laws” is moving full steam ahead and voter statistics are leading the way. To stay timely, Republicans should get on board. He cites that only 28% of GOP voters accept same sex marriage – while more than 70% of 18-34 year olds surveyed in the latest Gallup poll are in favor.

Keller is quick to admit that his solution is in effect akin to “closing a public school to avoid integration” - but he doesn’t see it that way and quickly escaping the moral reservations of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. He calls civil unions for all “classically conservative” in a small government way, and warns conservatives that if they don’t recognize that now is the right time for change they risk being “on the wrong side of history.” That’s a kind of lost timeliness 18-34 year olds will not forgive at the voting booth.

Works Cited

Ramage, John D., et al. Writing Arguments: Rhetoric with Readings. New York. Pearson, 2010. Print.

Keller, Bill. A Decent Proposal: In which I solve the G.O.P.’s gay-marriage problem.” New          York Times Magazine. New York. 2 July 2011. Print.