Time for another ramble about something that is a hot button topic for many – marriage and civil unions.
As most of you know I am Christ-Follower. As a result I believe in the purity and importance of marriage (for those that desire to be in a relationship). Marriage is something that was created by God. He designed it to be a lasting covenant between a man and a woman. I was happy to hear my new pastor reiterate that at church the other week. That is a Biblical standard, and I believe that is what is right. I think that marriage is something one doesn’t take lightly. It is a big commitment, and God designed it that way. Importantly it is a commitment between one man and one woman.
But we live in a world that has been corrupted by sin and as a result marriage is no longer perfect. Marriage is something that is something you can throw away and move away from if you “feel like it”. The divorce rate in the US is around 50% and that is for everyone regardless of whether they are church goers or not, “Christians” or not. That is pretty awful. This isn’t a post about divorce so I am not going there at all. In fact, some recent studies are showing that marriage is something that younger people think is antiquated and that there is no point to it. I would say that for the non-believer they are probably right. What is the point of marriage for a non-believer. They don’t believe that God created it so why should they enter into that kind of union.
In the US, we call marriage any union between two people, and I think that is an issue we have here. That isn’t what marriage is. Marriage is between a man and a woman. But by getting married you gain certain advantages in this country; from taxes, to hospital visitation rights, to property rights, divorce settlements, and even upon death. And those rights should be upheld for people that are non-believers and want to be joined in some sort of union. And I agree with their rights.
That is where the civil union concept is important. I think that the US should institute civil unions as the governmental form of a commitment between two people. I know other countries do this already. My brother had to “married” by the country in a civil ceremony and then they chose to get married in a church as well to have a marriage in the site of God. This makes so much sense. Why not allow the government, which is not the church, to be in charge of the governmental side of unions that people want to have. Then they gain those governmental advantages.
This also takes the word marriage out of the equation when it comes to arguments over peoples rights versus religious rights. I don’t believe in “gay” marriage. That goes against what the Bible teaches. But I think that the LGBRQ+ community should have the right to enter into a civil union that gives them all the governmental rights that a “marriage” currently gives people in the US. So, change the name. Yes it creates more paperwork and work for Christians to get married. They would have to do 2 processes, oh well. We live in a nation that is not a theocracy and as a result we shouldn’t dictate unions based on religious forms. By making “gay” marriage legal we have just made the religious more ammunition to get mad at the government for try to take away religious rights. But that isn’t what they are really trying to do, the government just wants people to have similar rights. So, get rid of the term marriage on the governmental side of things.
Do I think this will ever happen, maybe. Do I think it will have soon, no. We currently live in such a divisive world that I am sure if this was brought up that it would be slammed as hate speech or going against what the Bible teaches. I don’t think this goes against the Bible since we don’t live, as a nation, under the law of God. Yes, all are under God’s authority. But our nation was based in religious freedoms and the ability to choose how we want to live and not to be under a single religious code of law.
I do wish it would happen though. I think a lot of negativity toward marriage would go away by this one simple change. Not all of it, oh no, but much of it.