Daniel A. Crane, Associate Professor of Law at Cardozo School of Law offers an excellent essay on A "Judeo-Christian" Argument for Privatizing Marriage HERE.
As do I, Professor Crane realizes Civil Marriage as a completely separate institution than Religious Marriage and gives a very detailed explanation on the dangers involved with merging the two. He further believes that the Christian Right's attempts to legally define marriage through constitutional amendment will do far more to ruin the religious concept of marriage in the minds of people as well as the legal grounds for religious freedom, than it will do good.
At the onset of his essay, he gives a pretty lengthy history of marriage in both the Jewish and the Christian traditions including how, in the Jewish tradition, civil marriage is still viewed as irrelevant in contrast to the mainstream Christian practice of placing marriage, by definition and validity, in the hands of modern government.
Even if you disagree with thoughts of marriage being a private, religious institution ONLY, I think you'll find Prof. Crane's claims to be rather thought-provoking and a worthy read.
I'm just happy to not be alone in my opinion of legal marriage being TOTALLY different from biblical marriage (and did you know that C.S. Lewis had similar thoughts?). :)
Happy reading and Shabbat Shalom to all!
~Free
P.S. Here's a cleaner PDF version if you care to print it out:
A Judeo-Christian Argument For Privatizing Marriage by Daniel A. Crane
Showing posts with label legal marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label legal marriage. Show all posts
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Legal Marriage, From Your Point Of View
I've already shared my thoughts on marriage, both legally and biblically. The following list of questions are to survey your opinion on marriage. It's not mandatory that you have an answer for every question, but hopefully you will carefully consider each one. Whether you're planning on marrying soon, whether you've been married for years, whether you're divorced or whether you never intend to marry, your opinion is welcome here. Even if you don't choose to answer them out loud here, at the very least, I hope these questions will cause you to pause and think about the ways in which you view the process of becoming married. And, if you're planning on legally marrying soon, my greatest hope is that you will do so with the full knowledge of what the paperwork you'll file means and the purpose it all serves.
Ready?
Here we go:
1. What is a marriage license?
2. How did marriage licenses originate in the United States and why?
3. If you're planning marriage soon, why are you applying for a marriage license (or if you've already been married, why did you apply for one)?
4. Does having a marriage certificate affect any children you and your spouse have together? If so, how?
5. Do you know what Parens Patriae means? Please briefly define it in your own words.
6. Does your state recognize Elohim (God) in your marriage (i.e. is He mentioned anywhere on the license or on the certificate)?
7. Do you believe you need a marriage license in order to be married according to Elohim's (God's) definition of marriage (See Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5 and Ephesians 5:31 for His definition)?
8. How do a man and a woman become "one flesh"? (Specifically, what is the process?)
9. Did Yahushua (Jesus) ever perform a wedding ceremony? Did any priests ever perform a wedding ceremony in the bible?
10. Who has the power to pronounce you and your spouse "husband and wife"?
11. Who gave this person the authority to pronounce you "married"? If you believe Elohim (God) gave this person authority over pronouncing marriage, please cite where this appears in the bible. (or, if it's just your opinion, that's fine too, but please be specific)
12. When Yahushua (Jesus) turned water into wine, was Yahushua at a wedding or was He at a wedding celebration? Is there a difference?
13. Is an example of wedding vows in the bible? If your answer is yes, please cite the book, chapter and verse where they appear.
14. What does your bible say about divorce?
15. Does your state allow divorce?
16. What does your bible say about remarriage?
17. Does your state allow remarriage? If so, how many times is a person allowed to remarry?
18. What does your bible say about adultery?
19. How does your state deal with adultery?
20. In your opinion, is your state governing marriage in the same way that the bible does?
21. If two people are married in a church, but without a marriage license, will your state recognize this couple as married?
22. If two people are married with a license, but without mention of Elohim (God) in their ceremony (Or if they're complete atheists), will your state recognize this couple as married?
23. How was a covenant (marriage or otherwise) made in the bible?
24. How did Adam, Abram (Abraham), Isaac, Jacob or any other biblical persons marry their spouses?
25. Romans 13:1 says "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of Elohim: the powers that be are ordained of Elohim." Do you believe the government is always right? Or, to phrase this another way, do you believe that the United States Government has ever enforced ungodly laws?
26. If ever the government oversteps its boundaries or ever seeks to replace Elohim (God) as ultimate authority, do you believe you should follow their direction without question or protest?
27. Are there instances in the bible where Elohim's people did not follow the government's laws or traditions of their day (please cite them if you can)?
28. Were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego wrong for not following the king's orders?
29. Were early Christians wrong for spreading the gospel despite orders by the ruling authorities to cease doing so?
30. Is there a law which states two people must marry?
31. Is there a law which states two people must marry with a marriage license?
32. If people were to marry without a license, would they be breaking a law (and please state exactly which law they'd be breaking if you believe this) or would they be infringing upon a man-made tradition? Or both?
33. Who created marriage?
34. Who is the ultimate head of marriage?
35. Which existed first, marriage or your state?
36. How and when was your state given authority over marriage?
37. Do you believe in prenuptial agreements? Why or why not?
38. In your opinion, does a marriage license offer any added security to a marriage, especially in the event of divorce? If so, what security does it add?
39. For you, is marriage a biblical covenant or a legal contract or both?
40. In your opinion, when two atheists marry legally, do you believe they are recognized by Our Father as married? Why or why not?
41. Assuming your state recognizes or allows gay marriages (or will do so in the future), do you (or will you) acknowledge and respect gay couples with legal marriage certificates as being married? Why or why not?
42. Do you have the right to accept or reject two people as being married? Does your state have that right? Why or why not? And, if so, to what extent? (can they deny rights and benefits to marriages they protest?)
Now that you've come to the end of this survey, read what one person discovered about marriage licenses in their state. Please do not accept as truth anyone's opinion on this topic. Instead, I encourage all of you to investigate, on your own, what marriage is, its history and all that a marriage license entails. You are also invited to share that information here as it is discovered. Thanks for your time and your opinions!
~Free
Ready?
Here we go:
1. What is a marriage license?
2. How did marriage licenses originate in the United States and why?
3. If you're planning marriage soon, why are you applying for a marriage license (or if you've already been married, why did you apply for one)?
4. Does having a marriage certificate affect any children you and your spouse have together? If so, how?
5. Do you know what Parens Patriae means? Please briefly define it in your own words.
6. Does your state recognize Elohim (God) in your marriage (i.e. is He mentioned anywhere on the license or on the certificate)?
7. Do you believe you need a marriage license in order to be married according to Elohim's (God's) definition of marriage (See Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5 and Ephesians 5:31 for His definition)?
8. How do a man and a woman become "one flesh"? (Specifically, what is the process?)
9. Did Yahushua (Jesus) ever perform a wedding ceremony? Did any priests ever perform a wedding ceremony in the bible?
10. Who has the power to pronounce you and your spouse "husband and wife"?
11. Who gave this person the authority to pronounce you "married"? If you believe Elohim (God) gave this person authority over pronouncing marriage, please cite where this appears in the bible. (or, if it's just your opinion, that's fine too, but please be specific)
12. When Yahushua (Jesus) turned water into wine, was Yahushua at a wedding or was He at a wedding celebration? Is there a difference?
13. Is an example of wedding vows in the bible? If your answer is yes, please cite the book, chapter and verse where they appear.
14. What does your bible say about divorce?
15. Does your state allow divorce?
16. What does your bible say about remarriage?
17. Does your state allow remarriage? If so, how many times is a person allowed to remarry?
18. What does your bible say about adultery?
19. How does your state deal with adultery?
20. In your opinion, is your state governing marriage in the same way that the bible does?
21. If two people are married in a church, but without a marriage license, will your state recognize this couple as married?
22. If two people are married with a license, but without mention of Elohim (God) in their ceremony (Or if they're complete atheists), will your state recognize this couple as married?
23. How was a covenant (marriage or otherwise) made in the bible?
24. How did Adam, Abram (Abraham), Isaac, Jacob or any other biblical persons marry their spouses?
25. Romans 13:1 says "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of Elohim: the powers that be are ordained of Elohim." Do you believe the government is always right? Or, to phrase this another way, do you believe that the United States Government has ever enforced ungodly laws?
26. If ever the government oversteps its boundaries or ever seeks to replace Elohim (God) as ultimate authority, do you believe you should follow their direction without question or protest?
27. Are there instances in the bible where Elohim's people did not follow the government's laws or traditions of their day (please cite them if you can)?
28. Were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego wrong for not following the king's orders?
29. Were early Christians wrong for spreading the gospel despite orders by the ruling authorities to cease doing so?
30. Is there a law which states two people must marry?
31. Is there a law which states two people must marry with a marriage license?
32. If people were to marry without a license, would they be breaking a law (and please state exactly which law they'd be breaking if you believe this) or would they be infringing upon a man-made tradition? Or both?
33. Who created marriage?
34. Who is the ultimate head of marriage?
35. Which existed first, marriage or your state?
36. How and when was your state given authority over marriage?
37. Do you believe in prenuptial agreements? Why or why not?
38. In your opinion, does a marriage license offer any added security to a marriage, especially in the event of divorce? If so, what security does it add?
39. For you, is marriage a biblical covenant or a legal contract or both?
40. In your opinion, when two atheists marry legally, do you believe they are recognized by Our Father as married? Why or why not?
41. Assuming your state recognizes or allows gay marriages (or will do so in the future), do you (or will you) acknowledge and respect gay couples with legal marriage certificates as being married? Why or why not?
42. Do you have the right to accept or reject two people as being married? Does your state have that right? Why or why not? And, if so, to what extent? (can they deny rights and benefits to marriages they protest?)
Now that you've come to the end of this survey, read what one person discovered about marriage licenses in their state. Please do not accept as truth anyone's opinion on this topic. Instead, I encourage all of you to investigate, on your own, what marriage is, its history and all that a marriage license entails. You are also invited to share that information here as it is discovered. Thanks for your time and your opinions!
~Free
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Is Biblical Marriage A Constitutional Right?
Still thinking about the bill in South Dakota which led to the repeal of the Anti-Cohabitation law there. In a nutshell, before it was repealed, if two people lived together without being married, they were fine. However, if they said they were married, but did not have a state marriage license, they were criminals. Unfortunately, though, this law has yet to be repealed in a few other states.
The U.S. Constitution says:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Now, some of us believe in straight biblical marriage where the state's permission is not needed. I've even met some who believe it would be downright sinful for them to involve the state in their marriage. My issue is, for those of us who practice our religious beliefs about marriage and do not choose to partake of secular marriage...for us to then be told that we MUST do so in order for that marriage to be recognized...well, isn't that prohibiting our free exercise of religion? Isn't that a violation of our constitutional rights? In my state, no such law exists that says two must partake of secular marriage, but in the states where this is the law, there seems to be a serious violation of constitutional rights going on.
Is it just me or can you see this too?
Hmmm...
~Free
The U.S. Constitution says:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Now, some of us believe in straight biblical marriage where the state's permission is not needed. I've even met some who believe it would be downright sinful for them to involve the state in their marriage. My issue is, for those of us who practice our religious beliefs about marriage and do not choose to partake of secular marriage...for us to then be told that we MUST do so in order for that marriage to be recognized...well, isn't that prohibiting our free exercise of religion? Isn't that a violation of our constitutional rights? In my state, no such law exists that says two must partake of secular marriage, but in the states where this is the law, there seems to be a serious violation of constitutional rights going on.
Is it just me or can you see this too?
Hmmm...
~Free
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Legal Shacking
It has recently occurred to me that many legal marriages today equate to nothing more than legal shacking. For those of you who've never heard the term "shacking", it's also called living in sin...basically, living together without the benefit of marriage.
Now shacking is frowned upon by most religious folk. But it's not only the religious who condemn it. Many who've never stepped foot in a church or who rarely, if ever, open the pages of a holy book believe shacking to be immoral, unstable and outright stupid, especially for women.
For the record, I don't believe in shacking either. Despite my feelings about legal marriage, I hope I've expressed here that I'm not anti-marriage, but exactly the opposite. I'm for true, biblical marriage without unnecessary permission or approval from state government.
However, it appears to me that many people who have gotten married have only done so to legalize their shacking. Some of the very couples I've blogged about here hold a very loose interpretation of the institution of marriage. Because their interpretation so clearly embraces the idea of divorce and remarriage ad infinitum, it appears that marriage to some of them is nothing more than a legal way of shacking. When things get tired, when rough times hit or when something better comes along, they're out and on to the next. For some, I truly believe, they obtain a legal marriage for the sole purpose of social acceptance, but not with the idea of being with that person...no matter what...until the end of their lives. Marriage, today, is quite temporary, in fact. So temporary that some have coined the phrase "starter marriage" or "starter wife" for one's first time plunge. The idea being that this may be the first, but definitely not the last.
Funny flashback moment here: When I was about 10, my mother called me in the house for a sit down after overhearing me telling my friends I planned on marrying at least 7 times just like Zsa Zsa Gabor (who I have no idea how many she's actually had, but that was a good number for me at the time, lol). My mom tried to explain to me that marriage was for life (this was after her divorce from my father and before her remarriage and eventual divorce from my step-father) and I pretended to listen and believe. However, until well into my 20's, I still believed that I would have multiple husbands. Meeting Mr. Free changed all of that, thankfully, and I've only had one husband and only plan to have one as long as we are both alive.
But, back to my point...
While so many frown upon marriage, real marriage, without a license, these same will embrace couples who have multiple marriages between them. Even the ones where it's a slim chance they'll even remain with their current spouses. These people are applauded while people who have vowed a lifetime together and are living it, but have no certificate, are shunned for so-called "shacking" (when they're actually married). Legal marriage is the thing to do, but with no long-term plans, or tools, for survival, many, unfortunately, amount to nothing more than legal shacking.
Me thinks we have a lot of this marriage and shacking stuff completely bass ackwards!
Just my opinion folks...
~Free
Now shacking is frowned upon by most religious folk. But it's not only the religious who condemn it. Many who've never stepped foot in a church or who rarely, if ever, open the pages of a holy book believe shacking to be immoral, unstable and outright stupid, especially for women.
For the record, I don't believe in shacking either. Despite my feelings about legal marriage, I hope I've expressed here that I'm not anti-marriage, but exactly the opposite. I'm for true, biblical marriage without unnecessary permission or approval from state government.
However, it appears to me that many people who have gotten married have only done so to legalize their shacking. Some of the very couples I've blogged about here hold a very loose interpretation of the institution of marriage. Because their interpretation so clearly embraces the idea of divorce and remarriage ad infinitum, it appears that marriage to some of them is nothing more than a legal way of shacking. When things get tired, when rough times hit or when something better comes along, they're out and on to the next. For some, I truly believe, they obtain a legal marriage for the sole purpose of social acceptance, but not with the idea of being with that person...no matter what...until the end of their lives. Marriage, today, is quite temporary, in fact. So temporary that some have coined the phrase "starter marriage" or "starter wife" for one's first time plunge. The idea being that this may be the first, but definitely not the last.
Funny flashback moment here: When I was about 10, my mother called me in the house for a sit down after overhearing me telling my friends I planned on marrying at least 7 times just like Zsa Zsa Gabor (who I have no idea how many she's actually had, but that was a good number for me at the time, lol). My mom tried to explain to me that marriage was for life (this was after her divorce from my father and before her remarriage and eventual divorce from my step-father) and I pretended to listen and believe. However, until well into my 20's, I still believed that I would have multiple husbands. Meeting Mr. Free changed all of that, thankfully, and I've only had one husband and only plan to have one as long as we are both alive.
But, back to my point...
While so many frown upon marriage, real marriage, without a license, these same will embrace couples who have multiple marriages between them. Even the ones where it's a slim chance they'll even remain with their current spouses. These people are applauded while people who have vowed a lifetime together and are living it, but have no certificate, are shunned for so-called "shacking" (when they're actually married). Legal marriage is the thing to do, but with no long-term plans, or tools, for survival, many, unfortunately, amount to nothing more than legal shacking.
Me thinks we have a lot of this marriage and shacking stuff completely bass ackwards!
Just my opinion folks...
~Free
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