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Catholic definition
==Modern marriage licenses==
==Modern marriage licenses==
In the present-day [[United States]], 'getting married' typically involves a marriage license issued by the [[state]] [[government]] or a subdivision thereof (e.g., a county). However, marriage licenses are nowhere mentioned in Scripture; in fact, they are a relatively recent innovation and originally applied only to marriages that were otherwise forbidden.<ref>Information on marriage licenses from Mercy Seat Christian Church [http://www.mercyseat.net/BROCHURES/marriagelicense.htm]</ref>
In the present-day [[United States]], 'getting married' typically involves a marriage license issued by the [[state]] [[government]] or a subdivision thereof (e.g., a county). However, marriage licenses are nowhere mentioned in Scripture; in fact, they are a relatively recent innovation and originally applied only to marriages that were otherwise forbidden.<ref>Information on marriage licenses from Mercy Seat Christian Church [http://www.mercyseat.net/BROCHURES/marriagelicense.htm]</ref>
==Definition of marriage==
For Catholics, marriage is "a union that takes its distinctive character from being founded, unlike other friendships, on bodily unity of the kind that sometimes generates new life."<ref> [http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/marriage/mf0123.htm Gay Marriage, Democracy, and the Courts]</ref>
==Attacks on the institution of marriage==
==Attacks on the institution of marriage==