C_Clayton_Jones
Diamond Member
You're entitled to your belief provided you understand it's wrong and makes no sense.I'm a moderate that believes government should stay out of marriage because it is a religious matter but that laws should be crafted around civil unions. But the matter will not be a bit of concern in my decision on how I'll vote.
Marriage is contract law written by state governments and administered by state courts; marriage is a creation of government, government can't 'stay out' of something it created.
Marriage is also a creation of religion, concurrent with government, from a time when church and state functioned as one, and when government and religion were one in the same; the clergy acting as an agent of the state is an anachronistic remnant from that time.
But whether one is married by a member of the clergy or justice of the peace, the license is issued by the state, authorized by the state, where the resulting marriage is subject to the contract laws of the state.