The march of social progress
First, a woman in Israel married a dolphin. And now, a woman in India has married a king cobra.
And somewhere in the United States, a court is waiting to declare doing so a constitutional right.
HT: Drudge
And somewhere in the United States, a court is waiting to declare doing so a constitutional right.
HT: Drudge
Comments
Separate marriage and government now. Whatever happens, we shouldn't compound the problem by giving government more say at what marriage is, like say, with a constitutional ammendment.
This is one of your modern 21st century problems caused by our modern 21st century government.
Marriage would exist even without government, but regulating it is part of government's God-given mission. Otherwise people wouldn't even have to ask permission to "marry" snakes, dolphins, or any number of people of either gender.
So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."
But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
1 Samuel 8:4-9
Sure, a person wouldn't need permission to "marry" an oak tree or a copy of "Catcher in the Rye", but what difference would it make? People are free today to proclaim that they are married to an oak tree. That wouldn't change if government stopped regulating marriage.
The passage you cite was not the institution of government, but of a form of government different from that through which God had guided Israel before- the judges. Government was instituted in the Garden of Eden, with the family- that is, at the same time as society itself- and, by the way, marriage. All government, as Luther observed, has its prototypical form in the office of parent.
People are free to proclaim anything they want. But it is precisely because of the institution of government that they are not free to marry copies of "Catcher in the Rye," oak trees, dolphins (the "marriage" in Israel was illegal), or-except in India- snakes. It's why polygamy and polyandry are illegal, and why no legal sanction is given to gay "marriage," at least in most places.
God's Kingdom of the Left Hand is also God's Kingdom, Jeff- and always has been. Your libertarianism, I fear, has led you into false doctrine on this point.
Romans 13:1-7
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.