Part of the problem is that it is not an argument; the latter quote is simply a statement reflecting an unwillingness for progression. If Charalambous is suggesting that the past should be adhered to because of a general aversion to change, then he is suggesting that reform is unnecessary. The assumption that he would be an advocate for the continuation of slavery could be made as it was a traditional institution "based on traditions that went back to the very beginnings of human history."# Instead of saying that although we recognize that slaves are human beings but they are of a lower class are not equal, slavery, to a large extent has been abolished and is not blindly accepted. The same approach should be taken towards this first statement as blindly believing that homosexual relationships are not equivalent to heterosexual relationships endorses an ignorance that dismisses homosexual people as unequal human beings. Secondly, there is a focal misunderstanding within Charalambous" statement concerning the issue of marriage. The gay couples engaged in relationships within the specific Massachusetts case were not looking for an alternative to marriage; they wanted marriage, without the limiting traditional scope of it being between a man and a woman: "We should regard it as scandalous that two people could claim to love each other and not want to sanctify their love with marriage and fidelity."# With marriage comes an opportunity for an exclusive commitment between spouses, moving away from a path of contingency and onto the path of marital faithfulness. The positive results of making a form of gay marriage legal in Denmark since 1989 further emphasize the significance of the bond of marriage. Although opposition to gay marriage was initially led by the Danish clergy, an overwhelming amount had a dramatic change in attitude by 1995 when a survey conducted indicated that 89 percent of the Danish clergy admit that the law is a good one and has had many beneficial effects, including a reduction in suicide, a reduction in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and in promiscuity and infidelity among gays.
