Why yes, we do have civil marriage in the U.S. Whoda thunk?

As many of you may know(and for those of you who don't follow politics-shame on you) that 53% of the State of Maine has voted to ban same sex marriage in their state. I want to give you all a very brief history of marriage in this country. I hope that all of you can learn something from this, especially my fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ who may oppose same sex marriage.

I would like to begin our discussion here with the Puritans. Yes, the Puritans--that same group that formed one of the most oppressive forms of Christianity this country has ever seen. Well, their marriage practices are the basis for civil marriage in the United States. Can you guess why? That's because the puritans believed in CIVIL marriage, not religious marriage. Speaking of which, last time I checked marriage is only a sacrament in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions....but that is a story for another day. That's right, our country was founded on the precept of civil marriage. Puritan legislatures even went as far as to ban marriage sermons from being read at weddings. The objective was to keep these events completely secular (and also to help cut any ties with the Anglican and Catholic Churches.)

Now the question is this: why did no homosexuals choose to get married in the entire history of civil marriage in the U.S. until very recently? Well, the answer is this-- in the colonial times and in the United States, it was an exclusive cultural norm that a man and a woman get married, and that men should only have one life. This comes from a tradition dating strictly back to Charlemagne, yet prevalent in early Christian and Jewish cultures for millennia. It was just "what was done" here in America.

In the last two decades of the 20th century there was a major push for same sex marriage to be legalized in this country constitutionally, yet it was blocked by a not so nifty law called the Defense of Marriage act. Does anyone else find it ironic that this bill was signed into law by Bill Clinton? Just for your reading, these are the two basic principles of the law.

1. No state (or other political subdivision within the United States) needs to treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state

2. The federal government defines marriage as a legal union exclusively between one man and one woman.

Why was this law passed? Well, it was passed because people have these skewed views that civil and religious marriage are the same thing. SURPRISE! They aren't....

Marriage in the United States is a social contract between two people who enter into a partnership and are entitled to pensions, health care sharing, property rights, ect. Nothing else really. Any emotional connection from marriage is all up to the discretion of the two people in the partnership. On the other side of this are religious marriages. Depending on your faith base, there are different parameters that are included as part of this. However, I really don't feel like explaining them because they aren't necessary to anything.

Oh, and I challenge those who claim it is the purpose of the government to legislature morality to find me proof. You can search the Constitution up and down but you wont find it, sorry.

Therefore, I think that homosexuals should be able to enter into civil marriages with no problem considering that it is a social contract here and not really a religious one.

Oh, and while we're at it, lets get rid of those "illegal cohabitation" laws we have in this country. Lets let the Mormons and Muslims have their multiple spouses. Why should the government care?

Think about it. It'd love to hear comments.