Wraith of Azrael
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- Posted: Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:57:00 +0000
Can be found here
It's been a good month for completely absurd law changes. Last week, Ireland quite suddenly legalised ecstasy and ketamine, and this week Oklahoma has seen fit to restrict marriage to people of faith.
A bill that would restrict the right to marry to people of faith and require all marriage licenses to be approved by a member of clergy was approved by the Oklahoma state House on Tuuesday.
House Bill 1125, which would effectively ban all secular marriages in the state, was passed by a Republican majority and will now go to the state Senate for consideration.
"Marriage was not instituted by government. It was instituted by God. There is no reason for Oklahoma or any state to be involved in marriage," said one of the bill's Republican supporters Rep. Dennis Johnson, though marriage is a legal contract.
I'm actually inclined to agree with him despite being an atheist myself. Marriage is interwoven with religion and I'd sooner see secular people reject it and come up with their own commitments, though admittedly I'd rather we came to that realisation naturally than where forced into it by Republicans.
It seems this bill isn't fuelled by a desire to segregate atheists however but is a thinly-veiled attack on gay marriage. By restricting the issuing of marriage licenses to the clergy and not judges and court clerks, the bill would make it harder for same-sex marriages to take place.
Oklahomans for Equality described the proposal as an "all-out assault on the LGBT citizens of Oklahoma."
Discuss among yourselves.
I find it to be a truly annoying double whammy though.
Quote:
It's been a good month for completely absurd law changes. Last week, Ireland quite suddenly legalised ecstasy and ketamine, and this week Oklahoma has seen fit to restrict marriage to people of faith.
A bill that would restrict the right to marry to people of faith and require all marriage licenses to be approved by a member of clergy was approved by the Oklahoma state House on Tuuesday.
House Bill 1125, which would effectively ban all secular marriages in the state, was passed by a Republican majority and will now go to the state Senate for consideration.
"Marriage was not instituted by government. It was instituted by God. There is no reason for Oklahoma or any state to be involved in marriage," said one of the bill's Republican supporters Rep. Dennis Johnson, though marriage is a legal contract.
I'm actually inclined to agree with him despite being an atheist myself. Marriage is interwoven with religion and I'd sooner see secular people reject it and come up with their own commitments, though admittedly I'd rather we came to that realisation naturally than where forced into it by Republicans.
It seems this bill isn't fuelled by a desire to segregate atheists however but is a thinly-veiled attack on gay marriage. By restricting the issuing of marriage licenses to the clergy and not judges and court clerks, the bill would make it harder for same-sex marriages to take place.
Oklahomans for Equality described the proposal as an "all-out assault on the LGBT citizens of Oklahoma."
Discuss among yourselves.
I find it to be a truly annoying double whammy though.
