I can understand your position. And I can say with 100% support that I do not think that any church should have to marry anyone.
Two me there are two distinct parts to this. There is the contract law stuff that is set up to make a nuclear family work better: shared property, power of attorney, tax structures, etc. That ought to be entirely non-discriminatory and, in my opinion, ought not to be limited to a couple of 2 people. If there are three adults that form a household together and say two of them work full time and one stays home with the kids, I think that the person that stays home with the kids ought to be protected in the same way that a married partner is now. I'm not monogamous, so my personal experiences certain inform this view but I think it is sound public policy regardless. Then there is the social/religious part of marriage. And I think this is a big deal too. But that part of marriage is more tribal custom and ought to be governed by those tribal groups. Pagans and Unitarians ought to be able to do foursome handfastings. Catholics ought to be able to do 2 hour long ceremonies with 6 month mandatory pre-wedding counseling. And Aryan Nations ministers ought to be able to only marry White people. I'm a minister and am very picky about who I choose to marry. No one has ever told me who I had to perform a ceremony for and if they ever did, I'd tell them to shove it. I will only conduct a wedding for those people that I believe are already married..that have made the commitment and done the hard work already. Every other group out to have the same freedom to marry whom they like and in the fashion they like. Judah On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 8:46 PM, C. Hatton Humphrey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Until we legalize gay marriage, I will kindly ask you to keep your >> tongue to yourself. What would the two wives think? > > (*Beer affected post warning*) > > Ya know, there are two thoughts that come to mind when it comes to > multiple spouses. The first is, of course, the "Mormon" factor and > the nightmare that has come out of that. The second is actually a > Sci-Fi series in which the heroine (one Honor Harrington) ends up > marrying an admiral *and his wife*. Then again, after some of the > exchanges I've had in 10 years of marriage, I also question the sanity > of any man that wants to marry more than once! > > I'll fully admit that I look at this issue from a religious aspect. I > also know that when my wife and I were married, it was both a civil > contract (that would be the marriage license, which was signed by the > officiating pastor and witnessed by the best man and maid of honor) > and a religious one. The offensive part for me isn't so much the > civil union portion being allowed to same-sex couples but rather the > fact that they want to *call it marriage*. That's why I've been in > support of civil unions for a very long time. > > Granted, I also think that if same sex couples are going to be allowed > to enter into a civil union, they should also be required to file a > divorce if they split AND go through a complete separation of > properties and potential custody battles. In states with communal > property laws, enforce those as well. If someone doesn't pay alimony, > put them in the delinquency program that exists for hetero couples. > > I think I've said this before here (my memory ain't working so good) - > it's not the legal contract that bugs me. I do acknowledge that the > way the legal system stands today is discriminatory towards same-sex > couples and with the exception of changing the words on the marriage > license from "Groom" and "Bride" to "Party A" and "Party B" I think > that there is a lot that can be done to correct that. > > But don't tell me that my pastor (or myself potentially in the future) > are required by law to honor the request of a same-sex couple to marry > them. > > Personally, I liked don't ask don't tell... but then again I also > still like cheese-whiz. Go figure! > > Hatton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:278801 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
