Issue Position: Marriage

Issue Position

In this day and age marriage is neither a human right nor a political/civil right but rather a legal contract between a couple and the government or state. Human sexuality is a part of the makeup of every individual that is born into this world and the right to use that sexuality is not only a human right but inalienable, wheras we are not born with marriage being a part of us which makes marriage niether a human right nor an inalienable right. Since marriage does not belong to us as individuals at birth it is clearly a social contract made between individuals later in life.

Like all other inalienable rights, human sexuality comes with responsibilities. We do not have the right to use our sexuality in such a way as to deprive any other human of their rights, including their choice of how and when to use their own sexual rights. Our sexuality also comes with the ability to create life itself. Anyone who fathers or gives birth to a child has the responsibility, and should shoulder the burden of properly raising that child.

Marriage is a contract between a couple and the government, in which the government grants the couple legal status to form another government with the express purpose of holding rights and being responsible for themselves and any children they might bring into this world. The government grants to the couple rights concerning inheritances, property, tax benefits and the responsibility for the rights of their children till those children reach the age of majority. All of these legal rights are designed to make the couple responsible for the upbringing of their children and the easing of the financial burdens involved with having and raising children to be proper citizens.

As a legal contract created by the state, marriage is not a moral issue. It is an ethical issue in which the law of the land sets the rights and limits of that marriage. The state can therefore issue a marriage license, a license for a civil union or any other kind of a license it chooses. Any license it chooses to issue may confer any, part or all of the legal rights that in the past have been included with the licensing of traditional marriages.

In previous eras marriages were the writ of the clergy and considered to have the consent of God, which indeed made it a moral issue for those who were married. There are many, in this day, who still believe, that a marriage should be performed by the clergy and hold marriage, as such, to be a moral issue in which God sanctions and or becomes a part of their marriage. In those days there were many who for whatever reason did not marry but lived together as a family and raised their children. Such arrangements were usually called common law marriages and looked down upon as being immoral by those who felt marriage to be a moral issue. Any couple who wishes for a marriage that they consider to be both moral and a contract with God that spiritually binds them together may do so by having their marriage performed by those they consider qualified to do so. I personally believe that a marriage can and should be both.

Every child born into this world deserves to be raised in a family that is composed of his or her father and mother, who love and respect their child and do their best to teach and train them to be citizens capable of maintaining themselves and accepting their proper roles in society when they reach adulthood.

Every child has a biological father and mother and deserves to be raised by them in a home where they will be loved and respected. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world and sometimes children are adopted or born through surrogate means. Sometimes due to conflicts between a father and mother there is no marriage or a marriage doesn't survive. It is, and has always been in the interest of the government to make sure that children are provided for by their parents rather than the state being responsible for their upbringing, and therefore gives parents legal benefits concerning inheritances, property rights and tax benefits to ease the financial burdens of raising those children. When a marriage does fail the state usually gets involved in a divorce with the intent of making sure all parties including the children are cared for in such a way that the state will not have to provide for their welfare.

The state can clearly allow marriage between any couple regardless of gender if it so desires. However, the state's interest in marriage is really about creating a union that can create future citizens and shoulder the responsibilities and rights that will see to the proper upbringing of those children and create a future generation of citizens that have good ethical and moral standards while understanding their roles within society. To licence marriage for any other reason beyond that of having children and raising them is to license marriage for the sole purpose of allowing the individuals to use their human sexuality with the legal rights that come with marriage. It is therefore in the interest of the state to limit marriages to being between one man and one woman.

If we do away with the institution of marriage as being between one man and one woman, it opens the door for any kind of a marriage to be licensed. This would include polygamy, not only where one man can marry two wives but also where one women could marry two husbands or even two men could marry two women together making a foursome.

While the state can certainly license marriages for any configuration it desires, to do away with the institution of marriage as being between one man and one woman opens Pandora's box as to the type and kinds of relationships that will be licensed whose purpose is solely for the fulfillment of the human sexuality of the individuals involved.

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