Marriage
Currently the definition of marriage made by President Bush is too narrow. If marriage is solely for reproduction, the homosexual community will not be the only community disenfranchised.
Other groups include:- Women who have...
- had historectomies
- hormonal imbalances
- undergone menopause
- Men who have...
- had vasectomies
- erectile dysfunction
- low sperm counts
I feel that marriage is a religious practice that should not be regulated by the government. Each religion should be able to make its own criteria on who should be allowed to wed. That government is regulating a religious practice as benign as marriage restricts religious freedom. Government should get out of the marriage business completely.
When I was a child, I was baptized, yet it did not grant me any governmental benefit. When I was confirmed and granted the status as an adult member of my faith, I did not get any governmental recognition as an adult since I was only 14 years old. When I marry the government should not grant me any benefit as well.
Please allow religions to make their own choices about who can wed. Government can still regulate behaviors that may be inappropriate such as an adult cohabitating with a non-related minor child.
For the purpose of taxation, adults who cohabitate can get a credit. This cohabitation credit could be limited to those adults who have lived with each other for two years or more. The credit could also be claimed by more than two adults. If there are three or more adults in a household that have lived together for more than two years, all of them can claim the credit, but it would be reduced for each. If the two adults have children in common there could be a separate tax form. The cohabitating parents can file just one form and both get the deductions for those children.
If a person were to get hurt and go unconscious, usually the spouse is the one who is the first to make the decisions. To imitate this marriage benefit, a person could file a Declaration of Emergency Responsibility with the government. Hospitals and other medical institutions would then have clear instructions from the patient. Those instructions could even be put on the swipe strip on Driver’s Licenses and other state issued identification cards. The form would have to be signed by designator, the designee, and a notary. It would then be sent in to the appropriate governmental agency with a small filing fee.
Another form that could be filed with the government could be a Declaration of a Sole Heir. This form could be filed to the same agency that handles the Declaration of Emergency Responsibility. This form would have the same signature requirements and a similarly small fee.
If the government no longer officiates marriage, the courts currently being used by those who choose to wed outside of a church can be used for a faster prosecution of criminals.