Marriage Amendment

[Oregoropa]

I think the proposed amendment is a political play to draw attention to the growing power of the judicial branch to bypass legislative votes & referendums. The amendment is one of the only ways to exert the checks and balances on the judges. An exercise in American Democracy and a wedge issue in an election year.

Honestly, I think there needs to be a good debate about the issue in Congress. I am surprised that the ACLU has not challenged the word "marriage" considering it is of religious origin and is officially endorsed by our government. We could avoid the whole argument by legalizing civil unions for all and abolishing the word "marriage" altogether.

Here's my question . . . Is marriage an endorsement of organizied religion, or has marriage transcended religious labels as it has become a social institution of many world cultures ? Should its definition be protected? Should other social institutions derived from world religions be protected in US Government?

 

[verte76]

I don't know if the concept of marriage really has religious origins. If so I have no idea what the first marriage ceremonies were like. It existed before we had churches or mosques or synagogues and possibly religious buildings. Today we have marriages in churches, synagogues, mosques, other religious buildings, and in courthouses. I don't particularly associate it with religion, although as a Catholic I believe it is a sacrament.

 

[DrTeeth]

I don't see any reason to call marriage solely a religious institution. If it were, it should lose its legal status and be replaced by a secular status as soon as possible. I don't think we should allow any religion to hijack a common element of our society like marriage and determine the rules. So in a way I do think the definition of marriage needs protection. Protection from religion that is...

 

[nbcrusader]

Considering you need a licnese from the government to get married, it is sufficiently secular in nature.

 

[DrTeeth]

That would depend on how secular your government is.

 

[LoveTown]

I agree with you DrTeeth. If we are truly a nation that has separation of church and state then we need to stop imposing religious beliefs on things that are overseen by the government, like marriage.