OliveOilMom wrote:
It seems to be the word "marriage" that upsets so many opponents of gay marriage. There is a simple solution.
Have the government stop recognizing any marriages at all, and only recognize civil unions. Every couple, gay or straight, would have to go to the courthouse and have a civil union, then they would be a legal couple. If they choose, they can hold any kind of marriage ceremony they want to, so they can have their religious sanctioned marriages. People would be free to have marriage ceremonies, religious or secular, without the civil union, but the government would not recognize it. A marriage could be dissolved by the church or house of worship that performed it, or simply by the couple themselves in some cases. A civil union would have to be dissolved by the government.
In other words, take sanctioning marriage completely out of the governments hands, and have them only sanction civil unions. This way, whichever religion or sect a person belongs to, they can be sure that no one they do not approve of will be married within their church.
We already do something similar in the US by requiring a government issued marriage license. Why not just take it one step further and have the government issue a civil union, a legal contract, between any couple, and leave whether or not to have a ceremony and what kind up to the couple.
It's a solution I've advocated in the past, but an unrealistic one. The government isn't going to change the word 'marriage' to 'civil union'.
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