Have I signed my last Marriage Certificate?  Quite possibly.  The new Alabama law doesn’t require a marriage certificate, ceremony, or even a marriage officiant…such as a preacher or justice of the peace.  People simply download a marriage form, fill it out, have it notarized, and turn it in to the county Probate Office to be recorded. Boom! You are married.

 

                Something is just wrong with that picture.  I know that in the last decade the “institution of marriage” has taken quite a beating.  Some of the reasons to get married in the first place have been erased:  Living together, having children, making a meaningful commitment.  But right now, this law is a sad commentary on the importance of family in this culture.

 

                I understand that one of the reasons given for this new law is so that probate judges who disagree with same-sex marriages wouldn’t have to sign (approve) the marriage certificate.  But that could have been accomplished with numerous other types of laws that would have kept the solemnity and sacredness of marriage alive.  Now, unfortunately, it is nothing more that a simple civil contract. That’s it. No counseling, no promises, no vows…and no “I do’s”. Just “sign here”.

 

                Of course, wedding ceremonies can, and for Christians especially, will be performed in churches and wedding venues across the country.  But in the eyes of a so called “progressive” culture of permissiveness, marriage has taken a huge step backwards.  Marriage is a serious and sacred institution.  We should be making it harder to get married, not easier! The importance, meaning, and sanctity of the purpose of the marital union should be stressed, not erased.

 

                Do you realize that someone can decide at 8:00 to “get married” and be married by noon? The divorce courts are going to get busier, I’m sure. I wonder if the law makes a way to get divorced online, too?  Easy come, easy go.

 

Say good things about your Savior and His Church on the Bluff