Enough of this. Marriage is best left exactly as it has been for centuries. “Getting government out of the marriage business” isn’t conservative: it’s a cop-out.
“Marriage is best left exactly as it has been for centuries.”
Yeah, if the state would just do that, folks wouldn’t be questioning if the real benefits of state involvement aren’t outweighed by the real drawbacks. As far as the state is concerned, at least in the modern era, the definition it uses to recognize the institution is simply whatever judges, pols, or 51% of the majority think it is at any one time. That’s it, that’s all it ever will be. It was always a danger. Tree/man, woman/dolphin, chauffeur/fleet of rental cars-—as long as judges, pols, or the majority think they are marriages, that is what the state will consider marriages. Pope Leo XIII warned about it 130 years ago.
One of the only reasons the gays want ‘gay marriage’ is because many have been conditioned to think marriage comes from and is defined by the state as little pieces of paper, simply a contract with benefits and strictures that can be broken and resumed between any parties the state deems possible. Therefore, to many, the state simply recognizing an impossibility like ‘gay marriage’ makes ‘gay marriage’ possible and acceptable. A recent poll has 40% of people thinking marriage comes from man and the state.
The other reason they need state recognized ‘gay marriage,’ is they want and need a way to punish those people and faiths that won’t buy into their nonsense. They can’t punish anyone for disagreeing with them without the state involved.
Not that I think the state will ever give up the institution at this point, it gives massive control of the culture.
Freegards
You're another freeper who misses the point that churches don't even agree now what that is. Further, marriage is failing as an institution even examined on traditional grounds.
You want to avoid reality as reality passes you by.
Gov't will never be out of the "marriage" business as a matter of contract law since there are things like inheritance, powers of attorney, taxes, alimony, property rights and so forth to consider. But why not stop calling THAT a marriage? Why not keep the term for your faith practice particularly as we see in this piece various faiths have differing views now?
If you keep up your argument you'll lose the term entirely to "progress." Is that the conservative thing to do?
People keep trying argue narrow things that were lost 20 years ago instead of examining the landscape of today and how best to protect our religious liberty.