7/5/2015: This Posner guy has a decent vitae, he’d probably have tenure if not for his obvious problem following the policy on civility and cyberbullying. No word on whether the law school is pursuing disciplinary action for his comments in Slate, here:
… I say that gratuitous interference in other people’s lives is bigotry.
… The chief justice criticizes the majority for “order[ing] the transformation of a social institution that has formed the basis of human society for millennia, for the Kalahari Bushmen and the Han Chinese, the Carthaginians and the Aztecs. Just who do we think we are?” We’re pretty sure we’re not any of the above. And most of us are not convinced that what’s good enough for the Bushmen, the Carthaginians, and the Aztecs should be good enough for us. Ah, the millennia! Ah, the wisdom of ages! How arrogant it would be to think we knew more than the Aztecs—we who don’t even know how to cut a person’s heart out of his chest while’s he still alive, a maneuver they were experts at.
… Prohibiting gay marriage is discrimination.
6/26/2015: Chief Justice Roberts calls the wrath of Han and Carthage down upon American people
Fortunately this is from the minority report:
“The court invalidates the marriage laws of more than half the states and orders the transformation of a social institution that has formed the basis of human society for millennia, for the Kalahari Bushmen and the Han Chinese, the Carthaginians and the Aztecs,” [Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts] wrote. “Just who do we think we are?”
And no, it’s not the Onion’s version. The WaPo has the news and some analysis of Roberts’ opinion. Such as:
The Aztecs
Here’s an excerpt from a discussion of Aztec customary law on the Web site of the University of Texas at Austin. It hardly presents a picture-perfect snapshot of conservative family values:
Marriage was conditional in that the parties could decide to separate or stay together after they had their first son. Marriages could also be unconditional and last for an indefinite period of time. Polygamy and concubines were permitted, though this was more common in noble households and marriage rites were only observed with the first, or principal, wife. Aztec families could live in single family homes, though many opted to live in joint family households for economic reasons.
Then you have to factor in the whole human sacrifice thing.
And yes, I googled it, Chief Justice Roberts is a college graduate, or at least that’s what his wikipedia page claims.
What happened to the up-down arrows for topics?
Wait … where’s the link to the Aztec Constitution?
Thumbs fixed. Still searching for Aztec constitution.
It’s genuinely frightening how breathtakingly ignorant some of these people are. That’s why we teach History, of course. I can’t think of a better example of why we need to continue to do so when students can read nonsense like that coming from a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. And let’s not even bother to begin to address the lack of historical contextualization necessary to attempt to draw on these disparate groups as bound by some commonality of understanding regarding “marriage.”
Have our universities failed in their teaching of history, or have they failed to imbue a love of truth?