Quote (ThatAlex @ Jul 6 2015 08:58am)
The government can take away someone's dignity.
Can someone be theoretically have enough mental fortitude to not let being a slave or being in an interment camp phase them? Yes, that is certainly possible.
But a government enslaving some of its people can cause them to lose dignity and self-worth.
The notion that a government cannot take away dignity or bestow dignity in any circumstance is convenient argument for him to make in the context of same sex marriage.
To answer your question more directly, his rhetoric is too absolute to be true in every single case, and therefore it is false. Some slaves lost their dignity; some Japanese lost their dignity in interment camps. The government can bestow and take away dignity.
Quote
Human dignity has long been understood in this country to be innate. When the Framers proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” they referred to a vision of mankind in which all humans are created in the image of God and therefore of inherent worth. That vision is the foundation upon which this Nation was built.
Thomas is clearly invoking the Catholic view of dignity given that he, himself, is a Catholic. In addition, there is a clear link between this view of "dignity" and what the Founders opinion on the matter was (likely a 17th-18th century view on the matter, Kant would be a good source on this I imagine). While I disagree with his conclusion (dignity doesn't really have relevance when it comes to this issue) I wouldn't say that Thomas' views are absurd. As far as I'm concerned, It's best to avoid almost all media when it comes to hot button cases. They don't understand the reasoning behind most cases nor do they care to. You should check out SCOTUSblog for analysis or the actual source.