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Talk like this in the USA tends to equivocate between marriage (a legally sanctioned social and economic union) and marriage (a Christian sacrament, usually gru

Talk like this in the USA tends to equivocate between marriage (a legally sanctioned social and economic union) and marriage (a Christian sacrament, usually grudgingly including other major religions). IIRC the second kind of marriage has been in decline in the USA for decades because participation in organized religion is in decline and some states made it hard to get the legal status called marriage without involving a church. In most places there are other legal forms of sexual and social partnership such as common-law relationships in former British colonies. I have trouble taking anything in this genre by an American seriously unless it clearly communicates the definitions it is using.

slavboj 3y ago
There is no state in the US that does not recognize a marriage by a judge or self-certified "minister" of no particular religious affiliation. There's also no requirement to be married in one's state of residence, or even country. It's absolutely trivial to arrange the legal status of marriage.
- pixodaros 3y ago
  For many Americans, travelling out-of-state is a big deal. If its important enough many of them can make it happen, but many seem to have decided that formalizing their relationship in one legal category is not that important. There are other reasons why Americans might become less likely to choose one legal form for their marriage, like an American friend of the right-libertarian persuasion who does not just object to marriage, he objects that the laws of his state declare that he and his long-term, live-in partner have various obligations to each other which they have not explicitly contracted. OTOH there is the daft way healthcare works in the USA which can create incentives to use a particular legal form.
  - slavboj 3y ago
    Name a state that doesn't have civil marriage. This is a non issue.
  - fred_is_fred 3y ago
    "For many Americans, travelling out-of-state is a big deal." Not sure I follow this at all - can you elaborate?
emodendroket 3y ago
And what metric do you think they're measuring to capture marriage the christian sacrament?

slavboj 3y ago

There is no state in the US that does not recognize a marriage by a judge or self-certified "minister" of no particular religious affiliation. There's also no requirement to be married in one's state of residence, or even country. It's absolutely trivial to arrange the legal status of marriage.

pixodaros 3y ago
For many Americans, travelling out-of-state is a big deal. If its important enough many of them can make it happen, but many seem to have decided that formalizing their relationship in one legal category is not that important. There are other reasons why Americans might become less likely to choose one legal form for their marriage, like an American friend of the right-libertarian persuasion who does not just object to marriage, he objects that the laws of his state declare that he and his long-term, live-in partner have various obligations to each other which they have not explicitly contracted. OTOH there is the daft way healthcare works in the USA which can create incentives to use a particular legal form.
- slavboj 3y ago
  Name a state that doesn't have civil marriage. This is a non issue.
- fred_is_fred 3y ago
  "For many Americans, travelling out-of-state is a big deal." Not sure I follow this at all - can you elaborate?

emodendroket 3y ago

And what metric do you think they're measuring to capture marriage the christian sacrament?