Gay Marriage

[kandrathe]

So the government should decide what is allowed.

>Bristle< As a libertarian, that is like fingernails on the blackboard for me. :)

And as I said before, I think they should decide that gays can also get married.

The question to me boils down to what "marriage" is defined to be, and who gets to make the definition. Traditionally, it has been religion that has determined what is or is not a valid marriage. If the state creates legislation based on marital status they are accepting whatever the religious definition of marriage is, unless they define their own "civil union" class of marriage. That is the case in the US. The state by offering a "marriage" by a justice of the peace has been side stepping the religious aspect by offering a secular option. Now, the gay community is pressing the state to re-define "marriage", when it was never really the state's business to begin with. It's legacy has more to do with laws relating to adultery, pre-marital sex, than of the legal implications of spousal rights. The spousal rights issues can be easily solved by including "or dometic partner(ship)" wherever spouse(marriage) is mentioned in law.

Where the state has failed is by being in the marriage game at all, or creating priviledges or penalties depending on marital status. Part of this is understandable due to changing attitudes over the past 200 years about marriage and homosexuality. So, again, my opinion is that the state should not discriminate based on marital status at all when determining anything.

If you skip the state one, anyone can start their own religion...

And, any fool who partakes will get their just desserts. Fraud will happen. I met a young (naive) woman at college who had been duped by her boyfriend that he was a holy man in his home country, so that they need no go through any formal ceremony. Duh. There are any number of crack pots who always seem to want to form a new sect (which always seems to allow the leader to have all the women) and either arm it with automatic weapons or commit mass suicide. What I don't understand is how anyones actually goes along with such nutballs.

As regards adoption, I would encourage the screening of adoptees based on the kind of committed relationship that the people have, and the kind of environment that the child would be raised within. Evidence shows that children do best with a mother and a father, but any loving parents are better than being raised in an institution. Decisions of placement should always be made with the childs best interest being the main concern, not the sleeping arrangements of the adoptees.