Sadly a legal marriage and and religious marriage are not independent. Thanks to fear of white women going off and marrying black men we have the legacy of mar

Sadly a legal marriage and and religious marriage are not independent. Thanks to fear of white women going off and marrying black men we have the legacy of marriage licenses to deal with, and at least in my state it is illegal for for a minister to perform a religious marriage without a civil license/contract. Realizing that this affords some protections for those cluelessly love struck who could be left with no legal recourse should the relationship dissolve, it still pisses me off quite a bit that I need permission of any sort from the government to practice a religious rite.