Quote:
Originally Posted by camaraderie
Marriage is a religious ceremony between a man and a woman and government has no business getting involved. Civil unions can ensure that the legal rights of all Americans are equal without trampling on the religious beliefs of the majority for the sake of the activist part of that 3% of our population that might care to engage in civil unions.
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I would tend to agree with you on principle, but the reality is that angry sky hebrew (and other angry sky deities) may "sanction" marriage, but 50% of them still go keel-to-the-sky, where one presumes any self-respecting thunderbolt-tosser would notice and commence smiting.
My solution personally was to have a civil union the week before my wedding. My wife and I aren't conventionally spiritual and short of calling in a Unitarian, we'd have logistical difficulties having a "legal wedding". So we did the legal deed and promptly forgot about it. A week later, we had a morning ceremony with friends in a good pal's backyard followed by a catered breakfast. Later that day, we threw a big party in a warehouse where I sang to my new bride from a stage filled with our musically gifted friends.
Needless to say, while our "legal" anniversary was the week previous, the date we actually note was the date we had the "un-marriage".
My solution in this case is similar: Abolish all marriage. Make civil unions the only form of legal partnership and open it to all who wish to ride that occasionally Teflon-coated slope.
Still want to get married? Great. Hire a priest, guru or fellow with a tin hat and do it in a church, stretch of beach or while parachuting. Keep it between you and your friends, family and, if so inclined, mysterious celestial foreskin-collector.
The state can collect its fee on the civil union (which could, after all, happen in a church) and the "sacred sacrament" can stay in a slightly mistier realm, where it belongs, with related mysteries of the faith, etc.