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First of all, what is the current accepted definition of marriage? Merian Webster defines marriage as:
“the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship [b]recognized by law[/b] (2)[b]:[/b] the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage”[i][/i]
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marriage
Please note that marriage, by definition, can only by recognized by the STATE, not by the CHURCH. Why should I have to say this? Isn’t it obvious? How many people have gotten a marriage license without ever going to a church or even communicating with anyone from any church? As far as marriage is concerned, church involvement is completely optional and actually irrelevant. If you want to make the determination of marriage the domain of the church, you will need to change the very definition of what marriage is.
Of course, if you leave the determination of the definition of marriage up to churches, the word would cease to have any practical meaning. This is because each church would define it differently. Some churches might recognize marriage as “common law marriage” wherein by living with someone, you are married. Some churches might say that once you have sex with a woman, you are married. The Church of Cletus would declare you married because you looked at his slack-jawed sister in an unusual way. What we mean by “marriage” today (e.g. a civil contract recognized by the state, with all the rights and obligations associated with said union), would effectively be given a different name “civil union”.
Let’s say the distinction between religious “marriage” and “civil union” were codified in law. You are at a party and someone says he is married. That used to be an easily understood statement (a civil union recognized by the state). But now it is not so obvious. You would have to ask, “But are you civilly unioned with your wife?”.
The fact is that in the modern world, marriage is not a religious thing. It is a secular legal thing. All sorts of people get married, from all different faiths, or no faiths. Oftentimes, the wife and husband (or wife and wife or husband and husband) have different religions. The recognition of a marriage by any church is virtually irrelevant, as is recognition by the general public. It is recognition by the STATE that is relevant, and the STATE is the proper arbiter of who is married and who is not married. Now, back in the dark ages, the church was indeed the decider of who was married and who was not. That is because the church WAS the de facto state for all intents and purposes, because there was a breakdown in normal civil society. Please let us not go back to the dark ages. We tried that. It sucks.
Once again, the proper functioning of a civil society is being distracted and distorted by religious zealots who are trying to impose their beliefs about what marriage is. In Afghanistan, the local militant muslims want to impose sharia law on the population. In the US, it is primarily the Christian extremists who want to impose their own “religious” law on the population.
Why should we have to change the dictionary definition of a word to accomodate the radical views of an irrational minority? If religious extremists don’t like the definition of marriage listed in the dictionary, let THEM choose another word for THEIR abnormal view of what marriage is. Let them start calling their concept of marriage “Christian marriage”, “Godly marriage” or “Proper marriage”. If a legal marriage between gays does not meet their standards, let them call that marriage an “Evil marriage”, “Sinful marriage”, “Satanic marriage” or whatever other word makes them happy. Gays and others won’t care what the religious zealots call them. The important thing will be that on their marriage license it says they are “married”. They will indeed be married because, in the eyes of the law, they are. Marriage in the eyes of the law is all that counts. It doesn’t matter what God or any of God’s self-appointed representatives think or say. What matters is what the state says. If the state says you are married, you are.
In reality, religious freaks can’t be reasoned with. So in ten years when I am at a party, maybe I will have to ask “So, are you civilly unioned?” It is not so bad. Just an extra word to add to my vocabulary to placate the crusaders.
BTW, I am hereby declaring that, according to the Church Of Occulus, all women are married to me throughout the universe for all eternity. All other so-called marriages, including your claimed marriage to your wife, are not recognized. Your “wife” is actually my wife, as is your mother. It is so written.
