Friday, October 27, 2006

Shacking Up

My latest article is available online here: Seniors Shacking Up. The article is a discussion about marriage and its procedures. The issue is simple, really, but the ramifications and permutations are complicated and personal.

When I was writing the article I tried to get feedback from pastors and others concerning real-life situations of seniors who cohabit. I only got a smattering of responses at the time. Now that the article is out, I'm hearing from people who are very close to some family member or parishioner who has had to make hard decisions about the law, the system, matrimony, companionship, the church, and God.

At the crux of the issue, I believe, is whether marriage should be an issue of the state or the church. Jesus, when pressed to give an answer about church and state, said, "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." So is marriage a God-thing or a Caesar-thing? Do we really want the state to determine who should marry and who shouldn't? Do you trust the state to grant a "license" for two people to become married?

My purpose in writing the article was to make people think by bringing up the questions. So what do you think? Let's talk about it.

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