MARRIAGE: CHURCH vs. STATE

There are many ideas and cultural differences concerning the origin of marriage. However most concur that in the Old Testament, marriage is most frequently treated as a patriarchal institution for the perpetuation of the tribe.

It is only later in Jewish history that there are signs of sacramental attributes. Nevertheless, for women, marriage was institutionalized slavery where a woman was property, sold to a man chosen by her father. http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/200401281944.html

Religious institutions historically used women as slaves and/or prostitutes building on a long history of misuse of women. The much vaunted, "Bride of God" often was a vessel to relieve priests of the pain of celibacy.

In America, it was not simply that women did not have a right to vote; married women had no rights whatsoever. Women generally remained as slaves in their father's household if no man would buy her.

If she chose to go it alone, she had only the low paying jobs of nurse, secretary, teacher or the sweat shops to turn to. All of these re-enslaved her. Marriage, however unpleasant, offered some protection -- except from her husband.

Change has come slowly. For a better understanding, think about what it was like in this land of the free and home of the brave for married women around thirty years ago:

* Married women, even if they had a job, could not set up a bank account or buy purchase merchandise on time without the written consent of their husbands.

* Husbands were "head of household" by law.

* In most states, it was legal for husbands to rape their wives.

* Married women in some states were not allowed to own their own property. The home and everything in it was the property of their husband. In many states, even if married women were permitted to own property, husbands had the right to "manage" or control the assets belonging to the woman or the "marital estate," or they required their husband's consent to deal with the property,

* Divorce was difficult to obtain and even then a married woman usually could lose her children or even if she didn't would have no claim to the property.

* If a married woman had a job (with her husband's permission, of course), her pay was the property of her husband. The I.R.S. considered all business owned and worked by a husband and wife to belong to the husband.

* Medicines given to women were based on doses found to be efficacious to men. There was little medical research on women because it was believed their "illnesses" were just emotional and so were mostly ignored.

Most states by now may appear to give married women rights equal to men but the law still favors men almost exclusively. It was written for them and superficial changes creating ostensible gender neutrality have failed to make the law truly genderless.

This then is the reality of the sacredness of the institution of marriage as promulgated by George Bush. The "Sanctity of marriage," that he salivates over, is something that is defined and conferred by church.

State, on the other hand, generally delineates who may marry, and issues the licenses. Restrictions are based on age and blood relationships for the most part, although interracial marriages were once banned.

Let's be clear. Only very recently has marriage radically changed. Women can now escape the life of a slave that church-approved marriage dictates. This escape was made possible by secular (state/federal) laws.

The rights of privacy and equality under the law became applicable to women by political action -- not by anything the churches did. If women had waited for church action we would still be slaves.

In his proposed amendment to our Constitution, Bush intends to override state law with church law which the U.S. Constitution and many State Constitutions expressly forbid.

Will we let him?

twanda@sover.net

2004-010

Copyright 2004 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@sover.net.