Friday, June 26, 2015

(why not) marriage notes

Synopsis: Please, no marriage anywhere for anyone any more.

celebration balloons

News and social media outlets just announced the United States Supreme Court's approval of same-sex marriage—marriage equality. You realize "same-sex"isn't necessarily GLBTQ marriage, just as opposite sex marriage isn't necessarily not-GLBTQ? Social media resounds with sights and sounds of celebration today; not much jubilation from me, though. But why not?

The whole structure of marriage and legal commitment must change. After all, it's been evolving for millennia, anyway! It was so wonderful and freeing when a lot of people started committing to significant otherships rather than legal marriage! There needs to be some way of reliably indicating your desire for hospital visitation, etc. as well as protection for kids, but the legal (pertaining to, under the formal regulations of the states of the USA, the feds, or of other *legally* constituted governments) apparatus of marriage? Marriage has become an anachronism, though as long as the legal institution exists and subsists, everyone who's not already legally married needs the right to get married. But then again, as long as govt involves itself (governments involve themselves) in this yoking up biz, why not guidelines and allowances for plural marriage? Why not? You know that's a form of biblical marriage!

It's a different topic for another day, but while we're referencing scripture and marriage, why make the church and other religious entities agents of the government? I don't know if I've made myself clear. I've wanted to blog about this for several years, so here it is. I hope you'll consider this for what it's worth.

10 minutes later: I updated post title to include (why not).

another edit the following morning:

I very very much support publicly committing to (hopefully) a lifelong, (hopefully) an exclusive relationship with a significant other, but please do not involve or include legalities. If you're religious, how about during the Saturday or Sunday liturgy? If you're not religious or have other preferences, how about gathering at the beach, in the mountains, or in a lovely garden? During a chilly winter, someone's home that's large enough to hold your guests, or maybe a restaurant or other function room? You gotta have good eats, of course! BTW, this perspective has almost nothing to do with my libertarian spirit or my classical liberal heart.

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