How does it happen that these judges, who, after all, have generally been raised and educated in our society, should have such a radically different view of the meaning and value of marriage? Most important, what is the source of their authority to make their view determinative such that we are bound to accept and respect it? The answer to the first question is that they are merely affirming their adherence to what they consider the more prestigious side in a cultural conflict. William F. Buckley famously stated that he would rather be governed by the first thousand names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty. This is surely also one of his wisest observations. The Harvard faculty, brilliant as all its members undoubtedly are, live immersed in a world of words that enable them to imagine situations and reach conclusions so removed from our social norms that to ordinary persons they would be literally unthinkable. Brilliance, unfortunately, is not the only, or perhaps even the most essential element, of good judgment. On the contrary, it often leads to an overestimation of one’s wisdom and goodness and ability to rethink and remake the world.