U.S. Supreme Court Considers Gay Marriage

"But marriage is a sacred institution!!!"

But if it's so sacred, why is the government involved at all?

 

It is nothing to do with religion either - humans paired up in monogamous life-long relationships long before anyone had the bright idea of inventing formalised religion to control the masses. You don't need a legal piece of paper or the blessing of a (secular or theological) governing body to do that.

 

Nor is it about "love" since (again) that does not require official recognition by any controlling body, be that a church, a government, a tribal leader, the group elders or family and kinship.

 

Over the course of history the formalised side of marriage has been about the distribution of wealth, property and power, which has brought us to the current state of marriage as a legal contract between two people, therefore: it's about hereditary, genealogy and bloodlines; it's about inheritance and the recognition of legitimate heirs and dependants; it's about "next-of-kin" status for non-blood relatives; it's about belonging to a family, a tribe and a community; it's the formation of alliances and partnerships; it is about taxation and other monetary allowances/benefits; it's about parental obligations should the marriage fail; it's about the ugly side of divorce and alimony; it's about paternity and maternity; and it's such legal concessions as the husband-wife privilege (for those who don't know what that means - in common law, ie that judicial legal system practiced in the USA and UK, a spouse cannot be compelled to testify against their partner) ... All of which is why the marriage is enshrined in civil law, and hence why government (ie the law-maker) is involved and why all national law on marriage is connected to international law.

 

The current status of religion in this legal system is now tokenism. The administrative control religion once held over the union of marriage has long since been passed over to the official legal system of a nation (which for all intents and purposes we call "government").

 

Marriage is a legal contract - which is why there is a legal marriage certificate - if it were a purely religious ceremony you'd get a sappy celebration card with some apt bon-mot from the scriptures issued by your parish church like they do with a christening, baptism or confirmation certificate, and it would have no legal "value". A marriage certificate is a legal document, just as birth certificate and a death certificate are legal documents - it is not the membership card to a "sacred institution".

 

This is why secular marriage exists, this is why non-religious people get married and this is why gays want to get married.

 

 

I think the main reason for this not happening, is the unhealthy links the US government has tying religion and federal law together in one big melting pot. Truly a case of apples and oranges if you ask me.