The government does indeed have such business and it has since the founding of this nation. Now whether it is correct or not is another matter. If the government can license businesses, license cars, it most certainly can license marriages. It also has an interest in licensing marriages such as age restrictions, and defining legal obligations between a man and women in relationship to themselves and any children. Most don’t have any problem with marriage as it is. It provides a bit of stability. Nothing prevents people who do not wish to get such a license from cohabiting, most of those laws have disappeared or are not enforced.
The problem with your idealistic approach which I would support in a perfect world (one without liberals) but I assure you that getting rid of a legally defined marriage would only empower those who wish to redefine the culture concerning marriage. I think it would also have a generally negative effect on the concept of an intact family especially among young people which are already suffering because of increasing lack of definition on what are healthy relationships and on how to form relationships geared towards forming healthy families.
What you are doing is surrendering. No one is taking anything away from Homosexuals by licensing marriages no more than a person who can not meet the requirements to receive a drivers license has anything taken away by the government licensing those who do meet the requirements. These requirements and licensing did not just come about on a whim passed in the dead of night without being read like legislation often does today. It was drafted by elected officials who have an authority within both the state and federal constitution to define such licensing and regulation.
I know in today’s modern emotion driven world people do not think rationally and tend to be child-like with these things thinking they are entitled to have their every whim indulged regardless of whether they meet the requirements. Do we cancel a college course because some can not make the grade to get in? This is typical liberalism, when you can’t win based on merit of argument then you like a child try to break or destroy that which is not yours to have.
There is absolutely no reason for marriage licensing to be removed just to please the childish whims of a group of people who choose not to participate in normal sexual and marital relationships. Nothing stops them, they choose to lead a life that incompatible with the natural and legal definition of marriage. That is their problem not ours and it is their job to make the political case to change it if that is their desire. They have not made that case convincingly as demonstrated by the fact they have failed in every case where it has been put before the voters and that is the only empirical objective test that should be accepted. That is the way free representative democracy works. Sometimes it is wrong but those who make such eventual reap results if given enough time.
Anarchy is not democracy, nor is childish “if I can’t have my whatever I desire endorsed by the government than we have to get rid of marriage licenses to be fair” theory of government. It is low minded drivel masquerading under the guise of liberty. Your idea of a Free Citizen would make all variety of crimes and misdeeds acceptable as long as a contract had been agreed upon beforehand. I prefer Democracy by the People for the People as our founders envisioned not a childish anarchist’s or liberals pipe dream.
Very well put. Inheritance laws and estate and life decisions are another legal reason. Next of kin obligations.
The primary social benefit is in the creation and rearing of children. Screw up enough parents in one generation and your society is gone.
Great societies can not exist without strong families. Strong families can not exist without marriage.
But the commies already know that.
“Your idea of a Free Citizen would make all variety of crimes and misdeeds acceptable as long as a contract had been agreed upon beforehand”
No one can take you seriously after this comment.
one of the best posts I have read on here on this subject