I am all for keeping the Government out of my religion, in fact the first amendment requires it. However that has nothing to do with the LEGAL ENTITY of marriage.
You seem to be equating to different things. My husband and I got married in a church, we made a covenant before God, however we needed a license and signatures in order to have it legally recognized. Separate things entirely. You do not need the former (ceremony) to have the latter (legal marriage). THEY ARE TWO SEPARATE THINGS.
The dissolution of the legal entity of marriage (which you are advocating) is destructive to civilization. Legal marriage was created to provide protection of women and children and still forms that function which is why we are fighting so hard to keep it. The legal function of marriage dates back to the earliest laws and legal systems.
In case you were wondering, we are over here now. See post #40 & 41.
Unfortunately, we're seeing the Government consistently ignore the Constituion, and redefine the Amendments and restrictions at it sees fit. Thomas Jefferson said it best:
"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground."
However that has nothing to do with the LEGAL ENTITY of marriage.
I do believe it does.
My husband and I got married in a church, we made a covenant before God
Did the Church consider you married at that point? Do you believe at that point God considered the two had become one?
however we needed a license and signatures in order to have it legally recognized
So you signed a contract with the Government that told the Government about your commitment to each other. Did that complete your marriage sacrament? Or was it an afterthought, a notice to the Government of your actions already taken in the church before God?
Separate things entirely
YES! ABSOLUTELY! It is when Government tries to use the same name as the sacred that the sacred is reduced and profaned.
The marriage happened in the church, before God. The registration of your marriage - the civil union you created - was for the Government only.
You do not need the former (ceremony) to have the latter (legal marriage). THEY ARE TWO SEPARATE THINGS.
PRECISELY. Which is why they should NOT have the same name AT ALL. The former - the ceremony in front of believers and God, is the marriage. The latter is a simplified legal contract with implied rights and responsibilities, no different than most legal contracts with those powers and responsibilities spelled out.
Giving them the same name demeans the institution of marriage; in no way is Adam and Steve proclaiming their commitment to each other in front of a judge a marriage. It's a union, it's a commitment, it's a contract - it is NOT marriage, however.
Legal marriage was created to provide protection of women and children and still forms that function which is why we are fighting so hard to keep it.
Except that, I would argue, as society has fallen (as is its natural tendency and ultimately must happen prior to the return of the Son of God), so too have the blessings that used to be associated with the civil side of the ceremony.
It used to be that morality dictated no sex before marriage. A man would take care of his wife and children, a woman would stay faithful to her husband. However, we've seen that all decay and rot over the last 40-odd years. "Marriage vows" are now quickies done for fun in Vegas. They are something many change with regularity, like drapes.
Government has not done its role of shepherding and guarding the institution of marriage; it has enabled the decay we see in it today. And with the push of gay marriage, we see that decay increasing and spreading.
So my solution: take marriage back from the Government. It belongs in the church - that ceremony before God and all gathered.
Let Government do its "civil union" thing, let it register and control civil agreements and contracts as people desire, for it does that in all other aspects of life (joint ownerships, partnerships, LLCs, trusts and wills, etc).
Get Government out of the marriage thing altogether. Give it back to the church whole and intact, for the church to control. It is the only institution that can be trusted to keep the sacrament pure and holy.
THAT is my argument. It is not about granting gay marriage, or making it easier for them - it already IS easy! Gays can get "married" now - today! It is about realizing the truth of Government, the rot and decay that exists, and breaking out that which is holy and good and preserving it as such. Do not let the stench of Government evil corrupt it, but refusing to let Government even touch it.