I'd like to weigh in with my opinion on the gay marriage issue. I haven't heard any of the talking heads in the media or politics come close to my thoughts, so I want to air my opinion for you all to weigh in on. Or not. As you will.
I think that the whole concept of marriage licenses is all out of whack. When my bride to be and I went into the town hall to get our license, the clerk was pleasant as can be, congratulating us and so on, I played right along with the pleasantries, but inside I was deeply angry that I had to go to the government and ask their permission to marry my bride. Why the hell do I need permission from Town Freakin Hall? Make no mistake, a marriage license is permission. Blessing from the Sovereign. It's reprehensible, demeaning and just plain wrong that I need the blessing of the all powerful state to get married. Now, marriage is (among other things) a legal contract. If you buy or sell real estate, you generate a contract. A properly executed real estate contract has to be filed in the town or county where the property physically is. If you bring such a contract in to the appropriate office, they record it. That is how I think the government should treat marriage. The legal aspect of it should be limited to their obligation to record the contract. To put it into the terminology of the current gay marriage debate; all marriages should be 'civil unions' in the eyes of government. If a gay couple wants to live together, why shouldn't they have the same property rights as any other couple? Legal rights relative to owning property, insurance policies, and so on have to be equal for everyone, or they aren't equal for anyone. As far as the state telling churches and individuals that a gay couple is the same as a married couple, well who the heck is the state to say that? If a couple wants to be a couple, fine. If they want a wedding and to be married, that's between them and their church and their families. If you belong to a church that sees gay marriage differently fro you, you can try to change their mind, they can try to change yours, or you can part ways. Join a different religious group or none at all. None of my business, and certainly none of the government's.
The current marriage licensing system is an unjust intrusion into the private lives of people. For gays to demand the same level of injustice is asking for the wrong thing. We should all be demanding that the government gets out of our families.
As far as the pot issue goes, that's simple. I don't care.
