{"id":27,"date":"2008-11-22T09:19:37","date_gmt":"2008-11-22T09:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/tonyjones\/2008\/11\/same-sex-marriage-blogalogue-t-1.html"},"modified":"2008-11-22T09:19:37","modified_gmt":"2008-11-22T09:19:37","slug":"same-sex-marriage-blogalogue-t-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2008\/11\/same-sex-marriage-blogalogue-t-1.html","title":{"rendered":"The Government’s Business: Same Sex Marriage Blogalogue"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"blogalogue_bar.jpg\"<\/span><\/div>\n

Rod<\/a>, it was great to meet you and sit on your front porch drinking
\ncoffee.  Actually, it was even more wonderful to meet Julie and the
\nkids, your chickens, and your incapacitated dog.  I appreciated reading your story<\/a>, and I’ll comment more on that on Monday.<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/span>Over the next couple weeks, I know we’ll get into all manner of
\nangles on the topic of same sex marriage, be they philosophical,
\ntheological, and biblical.  But first, I’d like to wonder aloud about
\nthe role of the state in defining marriage<\/b>.  (This will drive many of our commentors to drink, since they seem to think that all Christian reasoning begins and ends with the biblical argument.  But, nay, there are several ways to approach this.)<\/p>\n

Our government does, indeed, define marriage.  This didn’t happen
\novernight, nor did it happen with, say, an amendment to the
\nConstitution<\/a>.  Instead, it happened as do most items in our legal code,
\nover time.  There have been campaigns for and against polygamy and miscegenation, but these now lie decades in the past.  <\/p>\n

At local and state levels there have
\nbeen various strictures on who can marry whom and what kinds of sexual
\nacts are legal and illegal.  And, as with so many laws, those have
\nchanged over time.  Interracial marriage is no longer banned, and most
\nlocal anti-sodomy laws have either been dropped, ruled
\nunconstitutional, or simply not been enforced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rod, it was great to meet you and sit on your front porch drinking coffee.  Actually, it was even more wonderful to meet Julie and the kids, your chickens, and your incapacitated dog.  I appreciated reading your story, and I’ll comment more on that on Monday. 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