Marriage

Marriage is not primarily a legal matter, but a personal and often religious commitment made between one man and one woman. However, government (especially at the state level) should recognize marriage as a legal contract for purposes of legally establishing parental authority, custody of children, and responsibility for them. The government should generally stay out of the affairs of the family, except in cases of divorce, if a crime has been committed, a question of custody arises, or an issue concerning an additional voluntary agreement.

Voluntary associations should not be criminalized, but I oppose any efforts to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. I support efforts to forbid joint custody of children by same-sex couples or by any other group besides a real married couple (one man, one woman). Any other rights which are held exclusively by married couples should not be extended to any other groups. I support the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the Marriage Protection Act which protect states from having to recognize a “gay marriage” from another state. I would support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution containing the language of the DOMA.

The federal government should stop giving states funding and mandates for how much child support they collect. This gives the states incentives to enact policies which encourage imprudent marriages and divorces.

It is within the right of every state to enact laws against sodomy. It is within the right of every state to prohibit certain couples from marrying, based on age or age difference, closeness of relation, medical condition such as the contraction venereal disease, and criminal record.

Christians should have only monogamous marriages, but it is within the right of every state to choose whether or not to recognize polygamous marriages (limited to one man married to more than one woman). Polygamous marriages were recognized as legitimate and were not forbidden by God in the Old Testament.

I am against the creation of another type of marriage, such as the recent “covenant marriage”. All marriage laws within a state should apply uniformly to all married couples residing in that state. But it is within the right of every state to allow such additional legally binding agreements (i.e. prenuptial agreements). We need to have mandates that Christian marriages conform to Biblical standards from the Church, not government.

I favor the recognition by the State of common law marriages. I am against marriage licenses. The laws concerning marriage should return to what they were before there were licenses. There should be no tax consequences of marrying or having children. Common law is mentioned in the 7th amendment, and this should be interpreted as being law which applies to all marriages unless otherwise legislated by the states.

I am NOT against the legalization of “no fault” divorce. I believe that Jesus’ statement forbidding divorce except in cases of fornication (Matthew 19:9) is a teaching generally for Christians (those to whom it has been given, Matthew 19:11) only, but...

...if it can be proven in a court of law that a man and an unmarried woman have had consensual sexual intercourse, a judge should have the discretion, with permission of the father of the woman, to legally declare them to married under Common Law and bind upon them the responsibilities thereof (which must include child support at the very least). In this case divorce should not be allowed.