The Government Must Do Away With Marriage

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

Why would I come to the conclusion that the government must do away with marriage? I read an article on Newsweek.com (http://www.newsweek.com/id/172653?gt1=43002) whose premise is that the Bible justifies gay marriage. I found the article deeply offensive, poorly researched and poorly written. Nowhere does the Bible justify gay marriage. So why do I come to the conclusion that the government needs to do away with all marriage?

I will begin by saying that I do not believe that we ought to shack up with whomever we please. I do not believe this is healthy for us as individuals, nor is it healthy for the children that may result from such activity. I do believe that men and women should marry, have children together if they choose, and raise those children in a safe and nurturing environment that will raise smart, productive, loving and law abiding people. I believe that men and women should marry in order to foster a life long intimate relationship with each other. Intimacy in every way, whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual intimacy. But the government should do away with marriage.

I believe that marriage was created by God for purposes pleasing to Him. However, ours is a secular society, not a religious society. The verse from Genesis stated above makes it perfectly plain that God created marriage, not the state. And that God created marriage to be the union of one man to one woman. However, the meaning of the word “marriage” has become so perverted that it has lost almost all meaning. Heterosexual couples have perverted the meaning of marriage through an exceedingly high divorce rate, loveless marriages, and all forms of extra-marital affairs. Even in Biblical times, marriage was perverted by men who took many wives and concubines.

The solution is simply having the government quit recognizing marriage. Recognize all forms of “civil unions” under the law. Partners in gay unions can be empowered to sign medical consent forms, visit deathly ill partners in the hospital, and inherit money from a deceased partner under the spousal exemption laws. In short, a homosexual couple can have all the same rights under the law that heterosexual couples have.

What about marriage? I say you leave that to the church. Let the church be the only body that conveys marriage upon a couple. It could be a Christian church, a Jewish synagogue, an Islamic mosque, a Buddhist temple or some other religion that recognizes marriage. Marriage is God’s creation. Let those who are recognized “being of God” bestow marriage privileges. In this manner, “marriage” is more fully restored to its original intent. “Marriage” would carry a fuller commitment than a simple union in that the participants have pledged their love and fidelity to each other in the presence of God, not simply to the state.