Noun:
The formal union of a man and a woman, typically recognized by law, by which they become husband and wife.
A relationship between married people or the period for which it lasts.
I’m going to assume the definition is the Merriam-Webster definitions, from the Google search.
Now we get into the details.
Under the Abrahamic religions (Catholic/Christian/Jewish/Islamic) teachings the standard for marriage is a man and a woman. That is essentially how it is codified in the Bible, Torah and Koran. If you use the Koran it is one man and up to four women. Those are all non-secular (religious) standards.
When the United States was created, many of the states had a non-secular constitution and an established religion for that individual state. Most states dropped the established religion between 1787 and 1788 when the Articles of Confederation were replaced by the U.S. Constitution. Some still persisted, but that was written as a state’s right to do so.
No matter how much you try to find the word marriage in the federal Constitution, or even a close brush you won’t. It is a Tenth Amendment[1] issue.
So the states, for various reasons, created marriage certificates. The marriage certificate, as originally designed, was an adjunct to the church authority that gave those that were married a legal standing and exemptions, etc. But as far as the state government is really concerned all a marriage certificate is, and at implementation, was a predefined civil contract between a man and woman for inheritance, child rearing, and responsibilities between two partners. You can go into the details ad infinitum.
Over the years the marriage certificate insinuated itself into the law with the tax code, inheritance laws, the custody laws and more. If you do a Google search for gays and laws. Or even search for unfairness in inheritance you can find many of these cases.
Essentially what I’m saying is that when it comes to city hall and the church, the church is a sacrament. The civil government (city hall) has viewed the marriage certificate as a predefined contract.
Over time the government created tax credits and other things that affect or are affected by the marriage certificate. These appear in the the IRS code, inheritance rules, etc.
As a quick example: if I’m married to a person of the opposite sex and that person dies, the instant presumption is that I automatically get all the property, short of what a will says. This is a man married to a woman regardless if the family didn’t like me. The law is currently, that my estranged family has more rights in my health care than my partner for thirteen years.
I experienced this years ago. I was with my lady for 13 years. We never married for various reasons. I had a medical power of attorney, and a financial power of attorney. She passed away, unexpectedly, on a Saturday night July 2005. I called 911 and the paramedics showed up, along with the deputies. The coroner showed up as well, and issued a death certificate. Because we weren’t married, we had to call her daughter and tell her “mom was dead, what do you want to do with the body?” over the phone. I had no rights. My dead sweetheart was lying in our bed, and I had no say in what happened to her.
Now to get to the point — if you want to argue that a marriage is a union of a man and a woman — then you are arguing for religious interference in state’s rights. You are going to lose on First Amendment grounds.[2]
It is time to change the secular contract that is “marriage” to what it truly has been all along — a pre-defined contract as recognized by state and federal governments. The religious aspect is still available to those who want it. The government can recognize the social aspect by not defining the genders.
[1] — Tenth Amendment: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
[2] — First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Times have changed. The social, civil union, portion of the Marriage Certificate needs to change. The problem is that society has not separated the legal from the society. It all should be a Civil Union contract. The word marriage should be used in the non-secular arrangement.
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