I think Maggie Gallagher’s piece today on marriage and the gay marriage battle is excellent. I do think Maggie underestimates the importance of the slippery slope argument. But I also think she’s right that the slippery slope argument is only a part of the story. Over the next weeks and months, I am going to be touching all of these bases in great detail. On the one hand, I am going to be putting the slippery slope argument forward with new scope, vigor, and evidence. I intend to show that the slippery slope argument is far more than a debating tactic–it describes a profound danger, and one that cannot be separated from the concerns that Maggie raises. But I am also going to be directly addressing the issues the Maggie has just focused on–the connection between marriage and children, the relation of that connection to the size of government–and how gay marriage is deeply implicated in all this. I think the case against gay marriage is building, even as we speak. The country will now focus on this issue, and the debate is going to grow and change. That, among many other reasons, is why Maggie is absolutely right that it is very premature to despair of success in this battle. The truth is, the gay marriage movement is using marriage to accomplish ends that are external to the institution. The more the public understand about what is really at stake, the more likely it is that this debate can be turned. And it is mistaken to believe that marriage has already been so gutted that nothing is left worth defending. With all the changes and problems, certain key features of marriage–particularly monogamy and the connection between marriage and child rearing–are still quite strong, and are still deeply accepted by the broader public. Both monogamy and the connection between marriage and child-rearing are greatly threatened by gay marriage, and that is something that the public can be brought to understand.