The reduction of all same-sex marriage opposition to irrational hatred is not a reasoned conclusion, but a matter of dogma among many on the left. We saw this when Ted Cruz visited two gay hoteliers in Manhattan last month. As my colleague Charles C.W. Cooke wrote at the time, Cruz’s visit was inexplicable to many liberals — because they had closed themselves off to the mere possibility that opposition to same-sex marriage might be based on articulable reasons or principles.

And the inevitable result of casting one’s opponents as sub-rational or anti-rational is the end of debate. From the position of Maggie Haberman, the Times writer so perplexed by Cruz’s visit, trying to convince Ted Cruz to support same-sex marriage is like trying to convince a caribou.

The problem, of course, is that community life is subverted when matters of public importance are removed from the realm of debate. And if I can’t convince you, I am left to appeal, finally, to force.