The sanctity of Elvis
Feb. 11th, 2004 08:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
judecorpI find it very interesting that the American people are currently absorbed with telling the queers all about how marriage is a sacred religious institution brought down the mountains from God and only handed to "one man and one woman," but they seem to forget all of this "sacred" and "religious" rhetoric when their relatives and friends get married by an Elvis impersonator in a drive-through 24-hour Vegas wedding shack. Or in a courthouse by a JP. Or on a shoreline by a friend who was ordained over the Internet. Or for citizenship. Or for money. Or to cover up a family secret.
I mean, really, if the different churches in this country were the final say on who could get married to whom, we'd have same-sex marriages already. If the only marriage in town was the religious marriage, we'd have a bunch of married queers sitting in churches around the world who affirm and sanctify same-sex unions, and we'd have a bunch of non-church-going opposite-sex couples fuming because they've been excluded. As a country, we established a bazillion years ago that religious officials can act as representatives of the State when it comes to marriage... not that the State can act as a representative of religion.
I just don't really understand the issue, I guess. I would have thought that my old divorce would be more of an affront to the "sacredness" of marriage than an honest attempt at commitment with a partner who happens to have the same letter on her driver's license as I do. Then again, I guess the bulk of the people in the world, the ones I don't correspond with, don't think like I do. Serves me right for interacting with social workers and geeks. :)
I mean, really, if the different churches in this country were the final say on who could get married to whom, we'd have same-sex marriages already. If the only marriage in town was the religious marriage, we'd have a bunch of married queers sitting in churches around the world who affirm and sanctify same-sex unions, and we'd have a bunch of non-church-going opposite-sex couples fuming because they've been excluded. As a country, we established a bazillion years ago that religious officials can act as representatives of the State when it comes to marriage... not that the State can act as a representative of religion.
I just don't really understand the issue, I guess. I would have thought that my old divorce would be more of an affront to the "sacredness" of marriage than an honest attempt at commitment with a partner who happens to have the same letter on her driver's license as I do. Then again, I guess the bulk of the people in the world, the ones I don't correspond with, don't think like I do. Serves me right for interacting with social workers and geeks. :)
