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Debate:Should the federal government have the power to define marriage? (view source)
Revision as of 00:17, June 6, 2008
, 00:17, June 6, 2008→NO
::But, again, those "rights and privileges" are not inherently part of marriage; they're things the government has, over time, linked to marriage. There's nothing about marriage that inherently carries tax benefits with it, for instance. It seems to me that it would be better to draw a clear line of demarcation between marriage (in which I think the government has no business meddling) and civil benefits (which could easily be conferred through a separate "civil union.") --[[User:Benp|Benp]] 18:41, 5 June 2008 (EDT)
::But, again, those "rights and privileges" are not inherently part of marriage; they're things the government has, over time, linked to marriage. There's nothing about marriage that inherently carries tax benefits with it, for instance. It seems to me that it would be better to draw a clear line of demarcation between marriage (in which I think the government has no business meddling) and civil benefits (which could easily be conferred through a separate "civil union.") --[[User:Benp|Benp]] 18:41, 5 June 2008 (EDT)
:::In theory one could have a legal definition of "civil union", that carried with it all the legal rights and privileges of property-sharing, making decisions on behalf of one another when incapacitated, etc. If a couple in this relationship could do anything a married couple could, like adopt kids, then isn't the only difference the use of one phrase, ''Civil Union'', instead of another, ''Marriage''? If yes, then it's an unnecessary distinction and there's no reason to have two terms that mean the same thing for the sake of "tradition". If not, and there are things a couple in a civil union can't do that married people can, then you have inequality under the law. The reason the a panel of mostly conservative, Republican judges in California ruled the way they did is that as long as you have separate terms for the same thing, then there is the potential for people to be treated differently depending on the label that's applied to them. If there is truly no difference, then the term "marriage" should apply to both. Since conservatives ''don't'' want same-sex couples to be treated equally, that will never be an acceptable option, so the judges ruled as they did and upheld equality under the law. --[[User:DinsdaleP|DinsdaleP]] 20:17, 5 June 2008 (EDT)
The powers of a federal government should be limited to the aspects of society that have a clear and undeniable need to be maintained on a national level versus a state or local level. Defense of the nation, interstate commerce, and basic freedoms (speech, press, etc.) are clearly best defined and managed at the federal level, but something that is subjective and values-based like marriage should not be.
The powers of a federal government should be limited to the aspects of society that have a clear and undeniable need to be maintained on a national level versus a state or local level. Defense of the nation, interstate commerce, and basic freedoms (speech, press, etc.) are clearly best defined and managed at the federal level, but something that is subjective and values-based like marriage should not be.