Q Toon: Can't Figure Out the Cable Remote, Either

“Traditional marriage has been around for thousands of years. Same-sex marriage is very new. I think it was first adopted in The Netherlands in 2000. So there isn't a lot of data about its effect. And it may turn out to be a — a good thing; it may turn out not to be a good thing, as the supporters of Proposition 8 apparently believe. But you want us to step in and render a decision based on an assessment of the effects of this institution which is newer than cell phones or the internet? I mean we— we are not —we do not have the ability to see the future.” — Justice Samuel Alito. (Link.)

Why, for its first forty years or so, the U.S. Supreme Court sat around without taking any cases at all, reasoning that the whole damn country was an institution newer than the the lightning conductor or the steam engine.

On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence that same-sex marriage is older than the Constitution.

"In the period up to roughly the thirteenth century, male bonding ceremonies were performed in churches all over the Mediterranean. These unions were sanctified by priests with many of the same prayers and rituals used to join men and women in marriage. The ceremonies stressed love and personal commitment over procreation, but surely not everyone was fooled. Couples who joined themselves in such rituals most likely had sex as much (or as little) as their heterosexual counterparts."