mheslep said:
Interestingly, I think I'd take the opposite view in every single sentence above. Ministers and priests need no authority whatsoever from the state to bestow the blessing of marriage on a couple; as it happens they wear another legal hat that is granted by the state. In my view the government should have absolutely nothing to do with marriage.
In practice, nowadays, you are not considered married without being married by someone who is empowered by the sate to marry ppl. The "power" of the church is symbolic and vestigial.
And yes, ministers and priests need a central authority, from the state in this case. There are tenths of cults in a country so big like USA. What, you will forbid two ppl of different faiths to get married ? The church does. Fortunately, the state overrides the church.
mheslep said:
I say resign the government to issuing civil union contracts for tax purposes perhaps and nothing more, and then the entire issue of same sex 'marriage' would vanish at a stroke.
This is why governments needs to exist. To enforce protection of a minority, the gay minority in this case, from the persecution of the church.
Yes, the church would vanish the same sex marriage in a instant. The church is conservative, limited, old, with no imagination and full of discriminative practices against women, other confessions and some minorities.
In a civilized world, the church will be stripped of any power whatsoever. It's influence in governments must be shattered. (creationist propaganda, discrimination lobby, and so on ). It must exist only as a option for religious humans to exercise their right to their beleifs.
mheslep said:
And generally speaking government involvement in society is a burden, as the US founders recognized. Unfortunately we need some government to live together, but it should be kept to a minimum as it is a dangerous construction.
A necessary evil. But between church and governments, I choose the big brother.