RE: That could just as easily have been a certificate from a church, temple, mosque, etc. asserting that we were married on such-and-such a date, before witnesses.
Well, that implies that the government still is in the business of recognizing marriages then.
I thought our discussion is about government totally getting away from the marriage business... and here we are, they’re still in it.
The certificate would take the place of those marriage licenses issued by government now-and since the government didn’t issue it, there is the added benefit of depriving some overpaid, unionized civil clerks of a job because they are not needed-more money for parks and to fix the roads.
You brought up the spousal/marriage issues like divorce covered by a civil contract marriage-I’m just advocating putting those issues into the hands of the clergy and common law, rather than a government beauracracy.
On a related but lighter note-when her husband worked in El Paso, my grandmother had a friend who was an orthodox Jew. When the husband wanted a divorce, the return of things like dowries, separate possessions, that are dictated by the Torah came into play, secular law be damned.