Traditional Marriage, As Ordained in the Bible

[furrbear]

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.

Comments

[grizzlyzone.livejournal.com]

I find all this very interesting and I do enjoy reading it. However, I see the issue very differently.

Rather than debating what is or what is not in The Bible, I see this as the attempts at one religious group to get non-believers to abide by their religious beliefs.

An analogy (a poor analogy) might be if Jews tried to get everyone to keep kosher because a) It's in The Bible, and b) THEY believe it's G*d's will.

I don't think it matters what is in The Bible. It's just not one of MY religious beliefs.

Abide by their religious beliefs

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

"I see this as the attempts at [sic] one religious group to get non-believers to abide by their religious beliefs. "

Make that "their current religious beliefs".

Chuck

[mountdfw.livejournal.com]

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

Hmm, I could do that.