Search Results for: blog legislating marriage

Marriage in the News: Covenant Marriages & Texas Legislation

This seems like some heavy subject material to bring up this morning, but this landed in my inbox and I couldn’t help but bring it up for discussion. Recently, I talked about the proposed marriage license legislation in Nebraska. The legislation proposes that for every couple who goes through 10 hours of marriage education then they would only need to pay $30 for a marriage license and if they don’t take the class, then they’ll need to pay $100 for their marriage license. I thought the idea was worth exploring as a model for its effect on marriage. I still … Continue reading →

New Jersey, Marriage, Rights, and Effects

Like you didn’t see this one coming… Since the New Jersey Supreme Court clearly (and correctly) stated that it found no fundamental right to gay marriage, it is rather curious that the Court would still demand that same sex couples be included in existing marriage laws or be given the same benefits as married couples through new legislation. If there is no fundamental right, how can the Court force the legislature to create a special statutory right that includes marriage benefits? Make no mistake; the New Jersey Supreme Court is indeed an activist court. While it may technically sidestep violating … Continue reading →

Religious Marriage versus Civil Marriage

Good afternoon, I’m switching gears again here late in the day as I begin to wax philosophic on several key points related to the marriage debate that has been clawing up the headlines the last couple of months. I have to say, if the politics of the situation were distract people from the troubling issues of today – this has been a successful campaign. However, that being said, I like to throw in my two cents. In all likelihood, Sherry may respond to this blog and I’ll look forward to her thoughts on the matter. What I want to discuss … Continue reading →

Common Law Marriages – Hold Onto Your Hats

Hold onto your hats folks, when this news bit came down the pipeline to my desk. In Colorado, the Court of Appeals ruled that a 15 year-old girl is old enough to be the common-law wife of a man more than twice her age. While I was a pretty mature 15 year-old, I am having a little trouble with this idea. The law is supposed to protect kids and teenagers – especially from impulsive rash decisions like announcing marriage to someone old enough to be her father. Now, legal experts are speculating that this ruling is opening the door to … Continue reading →

Senate Votes & Marriage

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Anytime the words senate vote and marriage come up in the same sentence, I get concerned. My concern is that I don’t want the government regulating my private life. I don’t want them legislating my choices either. However, the biggest issue I have with the marriage legislation is that it opens a potential can of worms that may cause far more problems and injuries to the nation than it protects values. The Value of Marriage I wrote a blog months ago that indicated that the greatest threat to marriage wasn’t same-gender marriages, but rather divorce. When our government focuses time, … Continue reading →

In the News: Women Have Choices, Men Apparently Don’t

This is a difficult topic for me to write on and I ask for your patience as I try to explore it in all fairness. Today, I read an article about new legislation that was passed in the state of Michigan. House Bill 5882 puts into effect the Coercive Abortion Prevention Act. This law, for me, takes an ethically gray area and potentially explosive atmosphere and makes it a thousand times more dangerous. So what does this law do? The purpose of the law is to prevent and prohibit the putative father of a pregnant woman’s baby from intimidating or … Continue reading →

Appealing the Will of the People, Part I

Let me start by saying that even though Heather and I go back and forth on marriage debates, we’re not fighting or trying to “one-up” each other. I know it may seem that way to some, since one of us usually comes along quickly to counter the other’s arguments after such issues are posted. Heather and I have very different views on these issues, (obviously) yet we agree to disagree. One thing we do agree on is that it’s important for both sides to be heard, so with that said, let me address Heather’s latest article, Marriage Debates: California Gay … Continue reading →

Is It News? Trailblazers Separate in Massachusetts

As many of you are aware, I have written about the marriage debates that are headlining in the news around the country. A few minutes ago as I was scanning today’s headline’s it jumped out at me — The lesbian couple whose lawsuit led to legal same-sex marriage in Massachusetts have announced they have separated. So the first question to pop into my mind was: so what? Why is that headline news? But then, this is a country that thrives on a variety of news sources from the mundane to the exotic to the popular images of our movie stars. … Continue reading →

Miscegenation is Not Against the Law

39 years ago, in June of 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the final laws against miscegenation. Do you know what miscegenation means? It’s a fifty-cent word that actually stands for interracial marriage. I was thinking about this the other day and started doing some research as Sherry and I posted our viewpoints on the hot-button issue of legislating marriage and what the definition of marriage should be and whether or not the government should issue laws about who can and can’t get married. 39 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court got into the tango of the marriage debate … Continue reading →