I think you missed the basic point: if it doesn’t apply to all citizens it cannot apply at all. That is not loser talk. That is simple to the point and is exactly what you want in a government.
I appreciate everything else you said however. Relating it to the real world situation is reality.
if it doesn’t apply to all citizens it cannot apply at all
The conservative response to this has always been “The law does apply to all people. One Adult Man, One Adult Woman is a universal rule for all marriages.” The libertarian attitude of “Get government out of marriage” doesn’t work in this regard, because marriage is a legal compact with a host of downstream consequences.
Marriage is a political institution. It cannot be depoliticized, only reformed in one way or another.
One Adult Man, One Adult Woman is a universal rule for all marriages
A conservative would ask you why the woman needs to be an adult?
Again, the only real answer is you have an adult citizen who wants to form a contract (because marriages are a social and/or religious concept) with another citizen. Done.
Exactly what you said: it is a legal contract with downstream consequences (well not really if you dont want to bother with it at all, but I digress). A legal contract. You cannot pick and choose who gets to make contracts, because if you do, they really have no legal basis.
Red heads cant sign contracts with left handed people. That is where you will end up.
I think you missed the basic point: if it doesn’t apply to all citizens it cannot apply at all. That is not loser talk. That is simple to the point and is exactly what you want in a government.
I appreciate everything else you said however. Relating it to the real world situation is reality.
The conservative response to this has always been “The law does apply to all people. One Adult Man, One Adult Woman is a universal rule for all marriages.” The libertarian attitude of “Get government out of marriage” doesn’t work in this regard, because marriage is a legal compact with a host of downstream consequences.
Marriage is a political institution. It cannot be depoliticized, only reformed in one way or another.
A conservative would ask you why the woman needs to be an adult?
Again, the only real answer is you have an adult citizen who wants to form a contract (because marriages are a social and/or religious concept) with another citizen. Done.
Exactly what you said: it is a legal contract with downstream consequences (well not really if you dont want to bother with it at all, but I digress). A legal contract. You cannot pick and choose who gets to make contracts, because if you do, they really have no legal basis.
Red heads cant sign contracts with left handed people. That is where you will end up.
Sure. There’s plenty of variation in their deplorable beliefs.
State legislatures have enormous latitude in deciding the validity of contracts. It’s one of their fundamental roles.