Marriages - And the State

A friend of mine forwarded to me a picture (really just a caption without any actual picture) that I'd seen previously. It said: "I want gay married couples to be able to protect their marijuana plants with guns." Now, aside from (probably to the consternation of many people for various reasons) agreeing with the basic idea there, I got to thinking and wanted to bring some of my thoughts together for others to see and, maybe, think about as well.

First off, there's what I believe is an important underlying question: Why the hell is government involved in marriage in the first place? As of right now, it is necessary to get a marriage "license" in order to get married. Excuse me? That, pretty much by definition, means that it would be illegal to get married without the government's PERMISSION???

From my perspective, the only people who need to be involved in deciding to get married - are those who are getting married. No one else should have any involvement AT ALL!

"But," you say, "that will allow same-sex couples to get married!"

Um ... so? If you're against same-sex couples getting married ... then don't get married to someone who is the same sex as you. This seems very simple to me.

As a parallel example, I have never liked the taste of chopped liver. My mother and grandparents liked it and had it quite often, usually on bagels. Me - not so much. Does this mean that I should push to ensure that absolutely no one can eat chopped liver? Or, as a way to make everyone's life easier - I could just restrict myself to not eating it. Very simple, no?

"But, but ...", I can hear you continuing, "what about someone getting married to more than one wife? Or more than one husband?"

Again, why the hell does that concern you? If you're against it, then don't do it. One of my favorite authors, Robert A. Heinlein, suggested various alternate forms of marriage in some of his books. One that I remember, off the top of my head, is from "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress", which includes rather detailed information about a "line family", whereby additional "spouses" marry into the family, providing family stability and greater financial security. As I say - why do you care how other people manage their lives?

If, for example, you truly believe that someone will be "punished", in some religious form, for doing something like that - then go ahead and try to convince them not to do it, but that really should be the limit of what you do. If they truly want to involve themselves in something that you, personally, oppose - well, don't do it yourself.

As I've thought about this, I can find only one situation where the government, currently, really cares about whether or not someone is married (and how) - taxes. Hell, I am very aware of the significance of the financial differences even between "Single" and "Head of Household" (in the US, that is). Maybe throw in some concerns about who is able to speak for you in the event that you're unable to speak for yourself (in the hospital, as an example), and I would speculate that, even there, there are many ways to deal with that issue that don't involve the government.

So, next time you want to insist on the government stepping in to restrict what someone else can do, I'd ask you do one very simple thing. Think about something that you really enjoy doing (or eating or whatever). I'd be willing to bet that there is at least one person who absolutely hates it. How would YOU like it if they made it such that everyone was restricted from it, hmmm?

[Originally written 28APR14]