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Quote by: CherryPie Marriage is no longer a religious thing..... being Married entails much much more than it used to and people need to think of all the implications of marriage including property rights and taxes |
I would hesitate to say that Marriage entails much more than it used to, especially in regards to taxes and property. In fact, I would argue quite the contrary. Marriage was, in the past, far more about property, land titles, and other socio/economic factors than it is now. In our society marriage seems to be centred far more around the notion of 'being in love', a notion that is relatively new in history, and not normative in many countries in today's world.
What has essentially changed is not the nature of marriage, although changes have and still do occur; the essential change has occured in our understanding of religion and faith in today's society. Religion is a relatively new term, it gained its usage after the fall of Christendom and the start of the Renaiscance. The practice of the Christian faith during the Christendom era entailed instructions regarding property, food, marriage and divorce, sexuality, citizenship, social ethics, etc. All of life was informed by one's faith.
Since the fall of Christendom and the rise of the modern state, the church moved out of the secular sphere, either by choice or by force, and into the private sphere. In this 'private sphere' the church was relegated to the task of shepherding the souls of a nation while its prince commanded the allegiance of its bodies. This privatizing and interiorizing of the nature of the church was left largely unchallenged. It was then that the practice of the Christian faith became known as a 'religion'; a notion conjured up by the state in order to maintain peace with the church that was no longer welcome at the political bargaining table.
The reason for this short history lesson is to show that it isn't the nature of marriage that has changed but the role of the church. Ever since the fall of Christendom there was a growing trend to think of faith as a private thing that has nothing to do with politics, social ethics, marriage, ruling, etc... The growing resistence within the Christian churches regarding same-sex marriage is partially a left-over, half-dead, notion that the Christian faith teaches specific lessons regarding marriage and its form, function, and purpose. Most of this reactionism, however, does not come out of a desire to be 'in charge' again in a neo-Christendom, although it often sounds like it, but rather an expression of the personal fears and discomforts of individuals stuck in phobias and taboos.
If one good thing can come out of this struggle with the same sex marriage issue, it will be that Christians will realize that their faith is not only an interior spirituality but rather a way of organizing all of life; including our practices of marriage and sexuality.
peace,
Marco Funk