In the midst of the raging battle between those who want to legalize homosexual marriages and those who oppose it, a solution could be implemented that would fit the goals of both sides. The problem with the traditional marriage constitutional amendment is that it asks the Government for the wrong thing. Asking the Government to define marriage as one man and one woman is a huge mistake because it takes away that power from religion and puts that power in a Government that is already taking too much power. It is extremely important for the survival of the Church that the government stays away from her.
If we let the Government take that power, not only would break the first amendment, but it also would teach future Christians generations that it does not matter what the Bible says what marriage is, all it matters is what the Government says it is. The definition of marriage belongs to culture and religion and it should stay there. Instead, I would like to propose the following: have the government erase the word and concept of marriage from all it's laws and prevent it from making any law that refers or affects marriage. There are two obstacles to this solution, however.
The first obstacle is that there are already some laws regarding taxes, possessions and power of attorneys that are based on "marriage". Overcoming this obstacle is simple: have the government create a special type of corporation (e.g. : corporation Z) that would give individuals the same rights and responsibilities a married couples. Just like any other type of corporation, anybody and any number of people can file for it. Christians would file one with their spouses, Mormons who believe in polygamy would file one with all their wives under it, homosexuals would form one with their partners.this would work great because at the end of the day, The government currently treats families a lot like corporations except that families don't get bailouts. Currently anybody can create a corporation so it would satisfy the requirement of everybody having the same rights given by the government. By issuing corporations instead of marriages, the government would then stay away from the power that should remain in religion and culture.
The second obstacle is that currently, religious leaders have a power from the State to declare a couple husband and wife in the eyes of the Government. We need to dissolve this dangerous relationship for two reasons: first, it allows the State to tell religious leaders who can marry and second, the power to declare somebody husband and wife comes from God not from a filthy government. It would work something like this: If a Christian couple want to marry before God, then they would go to a preacher who would deem if they are ready or not to marry before God. By breaking the ties with the state, the preacher would be free to use his judgement to officiate the marriage or not. if the couple want to get the rights and responsibilities given by the Goverment, then they would file online (to keep it cheap) to form a corporation. The key is to keep the process separated so that the Government does not stomp over religion. By having no laws regarding marriage, churches would be free to refuse to marry anybody that behave not in accordance to their beliefs.
So, does that mean that an homosexual couple would be able to file a corporation and go to a church that allows gay marriage and have a "marriage"? Yes, it would allow them to do that. And that is fine in a political perspective and a Christian perspective. In a political perspective, that couple has the right to have a religious ceremony that agrees with their beliefs. On a Christian perspective, that marriage is simply not valid and we would know is not valid. As Christians, it would also give us an urgency to reach the lost and to work on our own marriages to make them an example to others.
Some people say that "gay marriages" would destroy families. Although I believe that the Bible says that Homosexuality is a sin (just like lying, watching pornography, having sex before marriage, getting drunk, etc.), I believe that biggest treats to family are infidelity, abuse, uncontrolled finances and vices like drunkenness and drugs. Those are the bigger fishes we need to fry, but unfortunately a lot of Christians have those problems at home, and the sad thing is that the World knows it too.
The above (and everything in this blog) is solely my opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of my family, my current or previous employers, or my current or previous Churches.
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