What is Marriage?

What is marriage and who defines it? The American Heritage dictionary defines it as: 1.a. The state of being husband and wife; wedlock. b. The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. 2. The act of marrying or the ceremony of being married; a wedding. 3. Any close union: a true marriage of minds. 4. The combination of the king and queen of the same suit , as in pinochle. [Middle English mariage, from Old French, from marier, to marry]. The Oxford Etymology dictionary defines "marry" as: to join in or enter into wedlock. It defines "wedlock" as: marriage vow OE.; union ofman and woman as husband and wife. XIII. Late OE welac, f. we pledge, wed+-lac -lock. So, if we look at this, marriage is a union. It is pledge between two people who wish to commit themselves to one another....

But... We have allowed societal conditioning to make us think that the only people who are married, are those who have a certificate from the government, but this is untrue. By the definition alone, we can see what marriage really is. What makes two people who are unhappy, but have a certificate any more married than a man and I who are very happy, committed, have no certificate, but have made a pledge or vows to one another? True marriage is a commitment, a bond. It has nothing to do with some piece of paper that is printed en masse and distributed like toilet paper (for a fee, of course)... And it is so often thrown away in the same manner. With the divorce rate at around 60-70%, this concept or idea of marriage that people have in their minds is nothing more than a delusion. They quickly will say, well, what if they split up and then you get nothing? So, you're already getting divorced before you even get married! This is the madness, the out-sanity, of our people. Take the lovely Erykah Badu, for example. Her person was recently called into question because she has not been "lawfully" or "legally" married, but she has children with different men. She cares for her children, the fathers are in their children's lives, the children are healthy, happy, well educated... Yet a piece of paper--or the absence of that piece of paper--determines the importance of her relationships and determines her character. Emphatically no! True marriage is a bond between two (or more, if you're a polygamist) individuals who love one another, have come to an understanding, and who wish to pledge themselves to one another. Of course, even these marriages do not work sometimes. But that is just how it goes... I have been married. I have one child from that "union". We're no longer together and he chooses not to be a part of my son's life. Yet I'm praised for "doing it right". I have went through hell because of "doing it right" and have learned that their version of right, is actually wrong. Very wrong. So what defines marriage? Is it the love, loyalty, the bond...the union? Or is it the "sign your name here" piece of paper with a government seal that defines it?

How about, I define it? We define our own relationships, just as we define love and other things for ourselves. Furthermore, no religion has "cornered the market" on marriage, or rather, no religion has claims to marriage. Therefore, no religion can dictate who should or shouldn't get married. Their claims about marriage are baseless. Christianity did not create marriage, despite what so many Christians believe. Marriage existed long before Christianity, and the laws against "homosexual marriage" are unconstitutional. There is no actual, legal reason for this. It is all based on Christian doctrine, which goes against the "separation of church and state."