Ryan T. Anderson at the Ivy League Congress of Faith and Action seminar. (1:29:47)
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in the window below: Marriage is based on the truth that men and women are complementary, the biological fact that reproduction depends on a man and a woman, and the reality that children need a mother and a father. Redefining marriage does not simply expand the existing understanding of marriage; it rejects these truths.
Marriage is society’s least restrictive means of ensuring the well-being of children. By encouraging the norms of marriage— monogamy, sexual exclusivity, and permanence—the state strengthens civil society and reduces its own role. The future of this country depends on the future of marriage. The future of marriage depends on citizens understanding what it is and why it matters and demanding that government policies support, not undermine, true marriage.
About Ryan Anderson
Ryan T. Anderson is the William E. Simon Fellow at The Heritage Foundation and the founder and editor of
Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, New Jersey. He is the co-author with Princeton’s Robert P. George and Sherif Girgis of the book
What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense. Justice Samuel Alito cited this book twice in his dissenting opinion on the federal Defense of Marriage Act case. Anderson received his bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. He is a doctoral candidate in Political Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, writing his dissertation on social justice issues. Anderson has made appearances on Piers Morgan Live, CNN Newsroom, FOX News and MSNBC. His work has appeared in
The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, First Things, The Weekly Standard, National Review, The Claremont Review of Books, The New Atlantis, Touchstone, Books and Culture,
Christianity Today, The City and the
Human Life Review.
