And now for something completely different!
While talking with my mom a while back, I came up with a nifty idea. It'll never happen, but it's nifty.
First off, it'd require legalizing gay marriage so that gays are on an even footing with straights. This is why I can't see it happening, because so many religious ppl (or even non-religious ppl) think eww gross, and use this as their excuse for not wanting it to be legal. I really don't get this. If we went eww garbage collectors are gross and made them illegal, we'd be pretty damn screwed.
But let's ignore that whole kettle of fish for the moment.
My idea would also require the definition of "civil union" to change. (While we're at it, since marriage is primarily a secular process these days, what's really the difference between a marriage and a civil union? I mean sure lots of ppl get married in a church with all the religious trappings, but how many ppl have you seen get married by the church without also being legally married in the eyes of the state?) To my way of thinking, we should change "civil union" to mean basically a test drive marriage, and have it be available for gay and straight couples both. It'd be sort of like a driver's license in that you'd have to renew it every year. Get sick of your partner? Fine, don't renew that year. A civil union would confer some of the benefits of marriage, such as being able to get your partner insured by your workplace, but not all of them, otherwise there wouldn't be a lot of point in getting married except to save all the renewal fees and that sorta doesn't sound very romantic. "Hey honey, will you marry me? This renewal crap's costing us an arm and a leg." Of course there'd be couples who can't afford to keep up on the renewals, but how is that different from not being able to afford a wedding more complex than standing in front of a judge somewhere in street clothes?
Anyway, I think this would be good because then you wouldn't have to pay out the wazoo for a wedding, only to pay out the wazoo again for a divorce 6 months later. I don't know that it'd actually keep the morons who shouldn't really be together from getting married, but I'm sure it would in some cases, thus lowering the divorce rate. I can see it being abused by ppl who don't actually have a romantic relationship but want to get on someone else's insurance, and I'm not sure how to nip that in the bud, but really how is it different from all the couples who get married for the wrong reasons now?
And I think it'd also result in more money for the government to theoretically do helpful things with (like that'll ever happen :P). Sure you have less income from divorces (most of which probably goes to the lawyers anyway), but you also have vastly increased income from gays marrying, and from the renewal fees on the civil union thing.
So yeah, nifty idea all the way around. Now if only someone with actual power would think of it. :P
First off, it'd require legalizing gay marriage so that gays are on an even footing with straights. This is why I can't see it happening, because so many religious ppl (or even non-religious ppl) think eww gross, and use this as their excuse for not wanting it to be legal. I really don't get this. If we went eww garbage collectors are gross and made them illegal, we'd be pretty damn screwed.
But let's ignore that whole kettle of fish for the moment.
My idea would also require the definition of "civil union" to change. (While we're at it, since marriage is primarily a secular process these days, what's really the difference between a marriage and a civil union? I mean sure lots of ppl get married in a church with all the religious trappings, but how many ppl have you seen get married by the church without also being legally married in the eyes of the state?) To my way of thinking, we should change "civil union" to mean basically a test drive marriage, and have it be available for gay and straight couples both. It'd be sort of like a driver's license in that you'd have to renew it every year. Get sick of your partner? Fine, don't renew that year. A civil union would confer some of the benefits of marriage, such as being able to get your partner insured by your workplace, but not all of them, otherwise there wouldn't be a lot of point in getting married except to save all the renewal fees and that sorta doesn't sound very romantic. "Hey honey, will you marry me? This renewal crap's costing us an arm and a leg." Of course there'd be couples who can't afford to keep up on the renewals, but how is that different from not being able to afford a wedding more complex than standing in front of a judge somewhere in street clothes?
Anyway, I think this would be good because then you wouldn't have to pay out the wazoo for a wedding, only to pay out the wazoo again for a divorce 6 months later. I don't know that it'd actually keep the morons who shouldn't really be together from getting married, but I'm sure it would in some cases, thus lowering the divorce rate. I can see it being abused by ppl who don't actually have a romantic relationship but want to get on someone else's insurance, and I'm not sure how to nip that in the bud, but really how is it different from all the couples who get married for the wrong reasons now?
And I think it'd also result in more money for the government to theoretically do helpful things with (like that'll ever happen :P). Sure you have less income from divorces (most of which probably goes to the lawyers anyway), but you also have vastly increased income from gays marrying, and from the renewal fees on the civil union thing.
So yeah, nifty idea all the way around. Now if only someone with actual power would think of it. :P