Get government out of marriage

The issue of same-sex marriage seems to dominate the media and elicits contentious behavior and language from both sides.

There is no question we live in a heterogeneous society wherein many claim competing rights.

The purpose of government is to bring order to its society as best it can and in the venues it should. Marriage is not one of those venues. Historically, it never has been.

Marriage is a convent between two people, a vow unto each other taken before witnesses and possibly a religious representative if the couple so chooses.

Before the advent of nation states, a governmental license was not a requirement.

Was a Cook County license necessary in the year 1357 A.D. when an indigenous Indian couple living on the banks of the lake decided to get hitched?

Obviously no, but get married they did and without the benefit of a governmental licensing system. And that marriage was just as valid as if it were performed in a cathedral, as many marriages were in Europe at that time, also without the Kings writ.

Therefore, it would seem a reasonable request, with historical precedent, that the government should just divorce itself from the marriage business.

As a secular function, it should maintain a registry of civil union permits for all couples.

This would satisfy inheritance claims, property rights, medical consents and other common law concerns. These are functions of which a government should be concerned, not who loves whom.

This would return the rite of true marriage to the people entering into the covenant and whatever religious institutions they choose to bless their union, or not choose, as is their natural law right.

It is an elegant compromise, as it blends the best of history, true governmental concern and the actuality of what, ecclesiastically, a real marriage is.

Dion F Kendrick

Des Plaines