Political News and Commentary Website Declaring #NoTribes Launches With "Flo" Spoof That Makes Serious Point On Gay Marriage Decision
The Supreme Court of the United States of America has now spoken. Same-sex marriage licenses are being issued all around the country. Since that decision, and amid the clashing din of celebratory cheers and gnashing of teeth, there's a growing bipartisan push in some states to stop issuing marriage licenses altogether in a surprisingly good, "smaller government" way.
SamePageNation's "There's a Contract for That" imagines what life might look like and pokes fun at the outlandish extremes some have suggested would be possible:
Some Michigan lawmakers are the latest to join Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi in considering the privatization of marriage by halting the issuance of state marriage licenses, thereby freeing people to make their own marriage contracts according to their conscience, religion and common sense. Those contracts could be registered with the state, recognized as legal and arbitrated by the courts, but the terms would be determined by those involved.
Are these publicity stunts to show disdain for the idea of gay marriage? Maybe. However, the idea that states should get out of the business of regulating and granting permission to marry is hardly monopolized by religious fundamentalists. In fact, more and more people from all political backgrounds are beginning to ask the same question. Frankly, why does the state have to give citizens permission to marry?
Anyone desiring a separate religious sacrament would be free to do so, leaving the terminology "marriage" as a strictly religious concept for groups to debate outside the scope of government.
And it's not a new concept, either. Dr. Keith Ablow, in his 2011 op-ed "Let's Make a New Way to Get Married and Get the State Out of the Matrimony Business," said this:
The solution is obvious: Get the state entirely out of the marriage business. No more marriage licenses. No more special treatment of married couples by the IRS or any other facet of government. No state ever had a legitimate claim to issue marriage licenses, to begin with, since marriage is a spiritual commitment and quite often, a religious one. And it is, fundamentally, an intensely personal one based in autonomy -- until city hall gets involved and messes everything up.
SamePageNation.com's founders say that in the coming weeks they will be releasing videos poking fun at Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton:
We won't hesitate to take aim at politicians and policies irrespective of party affiliation. In America today, the greatest conflict is not 'Republican versus Democrat,' it is the 'Establishment Elite versus We the People.' Jeb and Hillary pretty clearly represent 'establishment,' and all that means, whether you like them or not.