Title: How to Change a Society in 5 Easy Steps
Headings: How to Change a Society in 5 Easy Steps
Christian Living
How to Change a Society in 5 Easy Steps

Content: The prime example is same-sex marriage. In 1996, 65% of Americans were opposed; today 53% approve. In May 2003, no states had approved gay unions; 10 years later, one-fifth of the states allow same-sex marriage (the tenth state, Rhode Island, approved legislation last night ). How was the agenda to redefine marriage able to advance to the level of public policy? And how did it happen so quickly? To understand this seismic cultural shift we should turn to an obscure, decade-old political theory. The Overton Window, developed in the mid-1990s by the late Joseph P. Overton, describes a “window” in the range of public reactions to ideas in public discourse. Overton believed that the spectrum included all possible options in a window of opportunity: