Traditional Marriage, As Ordained in the Bible

Markos passes along a comment about what the law would say if we had traditional Biblical marriages like the Mormons and their buddies on the far-right are demanding:

A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)

B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)

C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)

D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)

E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)

F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

G. In lieu of marriage, if there are no acceptable men in your town, it is required that you get your dad drunk and have sex with him (even if he had previously offered you up as a sex toy to men young and old), tag-teaming with any sisters you may have. Of course, this rule applies only if you are female. (Gen 19:31-36)

Chip (bearfuz) posted this letter from the latest issue of The New Yorker (Yes Virginia, they are still getting Letters to The Editor regarding Proposition 8.):

The history of the Mormon Church's "startlingly unconventional forms of wedded bliss" (which reduced women to childbearing possessions of dominant males) might more accurately show why Mormons fought so hard for Proposition 8. The fear of marriage between two people of the same sex is the fear of revealing that the traditional roles of men and women in marriage are not somehow natural or "God-given." Once we admit that marriage between "one man and one woman" is a cultural construct intended to benefit men, the entire patriarchal structure loses its base. The Mormon Church continues to cling to its belief that its definition of marriage, and the more or less subordinate position of women within it, is divine.

Robin Blaetz
Amherst, Mass.

From the "As If We Didn't Already Know That Dept"...

From Towleroad:

NJ Report: 'Overwhelming Evidence' Civil Unions Inferior to Marriage

In February I posted about a report put together by the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission that was causing governor Jon Corzine to have doubts about the effectiveness of civil unions in achieving equal rights for the state's citizens.

Yesterday, the final report was released:

"The final report of the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission says it gathered 'overwhelming evidence' that the civil union law not only fails to provide the same protections as marriage, it also has created economic, medical and emotional hardships for gay couples. The commission concluded that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is as unjust as government imposing racial segregation laws against African-Americans. 'Separate treatment was wrong then and it is just as wrong now,' said the report, obtained by The Star-Ledger yesterday. The 79-page report is the work of a 13-member panel created to evaluate the impact of the 2006 civil union law, which was supposed to provide the rights and responsibilities of marriage under another name. It will be forwarded to Gov. Jon Corzine and the Legislature."

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So the Civil Union law doesn't meet the terms of the state Court's decree...

What to do? What do do? I know!! Marriage Equality. Stay Tuned.