Monday, August 02, 2004

The Nation Comes Close

The July 5th issue of The Nation is same-sex marriage themed. There is a lot of good material there, some of which you can read online even if you are not a subscriber. Check out excerpts from the marriage issue.

[By the bye, The Nation is a fabulous publication that carries material you won't find elsewhere. You should subscribe.]

Unfortunately, the coverage in that issue still confuses church and civil authority on marriages. There are even well-intended comments from their authors about how whatever the churches decide makes a marriage should decide the matter.

How very wrong-headed that is. We have a long history of not letting churches control our government or make our laws, for very good reasons.

Marriage is a civil contract. The states can determine the requirements for who gets a marriage license and who can perform the ceremony. That was the key to the Massachusetts decision on Goodridge.

So, bless The Nation in general. Here specifically they need to think a bit harder rather than just running their list of the usual suspects' comments.

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