My take on marriage

Almost two years ago, while in Ireland, I took a class on the history of marriage and women as pertaining to early Ireland. As part of the course, we studied the evolution of marriage from the Babylonian times up through the advent of Christianity in Ireland. One thing I learned from the course is that marriage is a constantly evolving entity, and that it has always been a focus of the law to try to define it and its place in society.

Originally, marriage was strictly a social-economical contract between the families of the bride and groom. The only purpose of the match was to secure a legitimate line of inheritance for property; love, lust, and religion had absolutely nothing to do with it. In fact, it wasn't until the Roman Catholic church evolved that mention of love and soulmates even came into the same discussion as marriage. Thus, it was the Christian faith which originally started the evolution of marriage into what it is today.

In our modern times now, marriage is supposed to be about love and cohabitation. As such, yes, it is still an economical contract so that the two people can share their wealth and provide for one another. It is no longer about legitimate lines of inheritance: with divorce rampant, it is hard to find families that are not "blended" with children of previous marriages or parents who are not supporting more than one family. Marriage is now about loving someone, wishing to start a family with them, and wanting to have legal rights should something unfortunate occur during the period of cohabitation. It can be a religious/spiritual bond, but that is hardly required. Women are no longer required to produce heirs, to always subjugate to their husbands wants and needs. Husbands are no longer held accountable by law for the actions of their wives, nor do they own them as property.

I do not propose that the change in the definition of marriage is good or bad, it is simply what it is: different than originally intended, and better suited to our current cultural needs. But now a new change has come into the equation in the last few decades, with the advent of the gay rights movement and the somewhat-acceptance of diversity in our country and some of the world abroad.

The main question at hand now is how exactly do we define marriage, as by law? If we define it strictly on religious terms, then what about religious freedom? What about all the marriages born of mixed-religious backgrounds? The marriages between atheists? Which religious views will our laws define as being correct? If defined as a social-economic contract, as it was originally intended, what about the marriages between people of different castes, or where a couple keep their separate bank accounts? What about families that are the blend of previous marriages?

In general, my opinion on anything is similar to what is generally considered a Wiccan principle: "An it harm none, do what you will." Basically, so long as you are not harming anyone else, I really should have no say whatsoever in what you do or think. Now, true, I can't help but disagree with people, but that still doesn't give me the right to enforce my opinions upon you, and I think that really ought to be true for anyone. No one has the right to push their beliefs on anyone else, regardless of if they view that other person as being a heretic, a lost soul, a jerk, or any other sort of miscreant.

So, really now, how does acknowledging the right of anyone to love whomever they choose and enter a legal contract of marriage with said person hurt anyone? Some might argue that it threatens their personal beliefs and values, threatens the way they wish to raise their children. However, if you truly have faith in your belief system, and show that faith to your children, then I think your beliefs are fairly immune to "attack" as it were. Allowing two people who love each other to marry does not make your own marriage any less sacred or valid, and it certainly doesn't "teach your children to be gay." People really should not be so insecure about themselves and their beliefs that they need to attack others, sheesh.

I'll rant more later upon my disenchantment with politics in general and how it all pertains to this whole Prop 8 debacle soon.