Monday, May 26, 2008

Marriage and Government

These days everyone is talking about gay marriage, and whether it should or should not be legalized. This "controversial" issue made me think about what it means to make a marriage legal and what indications that brings. Why does the government have to tell me who I can/ cannot marry?
Marriage since day one has been more of a social/religious aspect; a couple are bound together before God or before their tribe/society, to get validation and accountability (maybe also approval). But since the establishment of nation states marriage became just another of the governmental institutions: it is no longer for God or for your family, you are marry for the political machine.
on one hand, I believe that it's none of the government's business to tell em who i can or can't marry, and as long as the marriage is a political institutioon, the government will always have a say in this very intimate aspect of our lives. Governments all over the world are imposing their marriage laws on people and tell you that you can't marry this person from bla bla sect or bla bla religion, or bla bla political party. If we are to see the family (which is established by marriage, in most cases) as the cell that forms societies and nations, and the government controles this cell, then hell, government controles everything, and will controle even more aspects of our lives as time progresses. Think about it: in the middle east the government law prohibits a mulsim to marry a non-muslim, in China you can only have one kid, etc. Soon, people will have to get medical tests and background checks by government agencies before they are allowed to be married. if the government has nothing to do with marriage, gay people, people of different relgions, etc will not have to be humiliated to get the fucking government's approval to be with the person they love.
On the other hand, I am reminded that marriage laws help protect children from being left on the curb by their parents, set rules for division of property after divorce, prohibit 50-year-old men from marrying their 12 teenage cousins, etc. of course these are good things, although some of these rules are only on paper in some cases. but can't we somehow have these regulatory rules in place without making marriage a legal matter in itself and having the government tell us who we can sleep with? I am not sure how this can happen or if it is at all possible. But well, after the seperation of church and state can't we seperate marriage and state?
Heck I dunno, i'm just ranting!

No comments: