On respect for marriage....

I ran into an interesting article on Slate.com today about two straight buddies from New Zealand who married each other in order to get tickets to the Rugby World Cup next year.  The author of the piece basically argues that people who argue for marriage equality have no right to disagree with what these two gentlemen have done.  To put it politely, the argument is completely ludicrous.

The author is correct when he argues that there are financial benefits to marriage and that is an important reason why marriage equality is so important.  However, to compare financial issues like estate planning and taxes with the opportunity to get tickets to a sports game is so far beyond ridiculous as to cause one to question the sanity (or at very least the intelligence) of the person making the comparison.

In the second from last paragraph, the author does make great points when he says, "And if we're concerned about mocking marriage, we can campaign against Elvis impersonators performing quickie weddings in Las Vegas, against no-fault divorce, or point at the opponents of marriage equality who have been married several times."  I am against each and every one of these.  Each of these things (along with the competition under discussion) makes a mockery of marriage by making it seem like something that should be done on a whim.

Marriage is an institution which should a union of people who come together out of mutual love in order to form a family and provide a level of stability to society (conservatives actually get this right, they just don't extend marriage far enough).  Marriage should never be entered into lightly, because "we wanted to", or any other trivial reason.  That is why I am against divorce in almost all circumstances.  The only reasons I think are viable ones for divorce are spousal or child abuse (emotional or physical).  I hesitate to say that divorce is acceptable when two people start to disagree because too many people use this as an excuse to bail rather than work on their marriage.  I despise (ok, that word is so not nearly strong enough!) reality shows which have people dating/marrying based on the show for the same reasons.  These shows (like the Bachelor or Bachelorette) turn marriage into something where people pick mates for the wrong reasons and they never seem to stay together.

Don't believe me?  Look at most marriage vows which ask people to stay together in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, etc.  I have been to weddings conducted by Christians (of several denominations), justices of the peace, a pagan priestess, and an official whose official title I do not know.  In each case, some variation of these vows were used.  My point is that (from what I have seen) most marriage ceremonies intend to bind the couple together for longer than just their convenience.

So yes, I am mad about this sort of mockery of marriage because it makes what marriage equality advocates have worked on for years seem like nonsense and it debases the institution of marriage.