{"id":2374,"date":"2015-07-10T07:07:59","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T13:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=2374"},"modified":"2015-07-11T08:03:59","modified_gmt":"2015-07-11T14:03:59","slug":"easy-peasy-solution-to-the-issue-of-ssm-objecting-judges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/07\/easy-peasy-solution-to-the-issue-of-ssm-objecting-judges.html","title":{"rendered":"Easy-peasy solution to the issue of SSM-objecting judges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Glenn Reynolds linked this morning<\/a> to a case<\/a>, one of many, of a judge who is refusing to perform same-sex marriages. \u00a0What to do? \u00a0\u201cMarriage equality\u201d supporters, who seem to be winning the day, say he should step down or be fired from his job if he\u2019s unwilling to perform one of the duties, and discard any claim of \u201creligious accommodation\u201d as undeserving because his refusal is bigotry.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s an easier solution:<\/p>\n

take the judges out of it.<\/p>\n

Make \u201clegal marriage\u201d a matter of filing paperwork, similar to that of creating an LLC, for instance. \u00a0Sign a document that certifies that the couple, by their signatures, intend to become spouses in the eyes of the law, and understand that they, in doing so, become each other\u2019s next-of-kin and take on certain financial obligations. \u00a0Require that it be notarized. \u00a0And then treat it as any other sort of paperwork filed by clerks. \u00a0(And if one clerk objects, it\u2019s a trivial requirement to call another one to the counter.)<\/p>\n

This process, then, would not be that different than the process couples follow when getting married by a religious officiant now \u2014 get a marriage license, have the ceremony, have the officiant and witnesses sign, and return it to the clerk\u2019s office to be certified. \u00a0(See the Cook County description<\/a>.) \u00a0The only difference is that the interim step, the ceremony, would be replaced by a notary public. \u00a0Heck, this step could even be eliminated \u2014 just show up at the County Clerk\u2019s office with proof of ID and be ready to sign the relevant documents, perhaps completed in advance as a download.<\/p>\n

As I said: \u00a0easy peasy.<\/p>\n

Update: \u00a0is it necessary to speak wedding vows in front of someone acting as an authorized representative of the State? \u00a0\u2014 which is the function of a minister performing a wedding ceremony, anyway. \u00a0I don\u2019t think so. \u00a0At any rate, this would get rid of the whole business of online ordination (e.g., the Universal Life Church, which \u201cordains\u201d anyone who fills out a form and clicks \u201csubmit\u201d and then tries to sell them ordination supplies), which I find appalling anyway. \u00a0Perhaps nonreligious people would feel like they\u2019ve had something taken away if it feels less official to just submit paperwork, but it would open up opportunities, such as a wedding consisting of a backyard BBQ in which you simply speak your vows to each other, no officiant needed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Glenn Reynolds linked this morning to a case, one of many, of a judge who is refusing to perform same-sex marriages. \u00a0What to do? \u00a0\u201cMarriage equality\u201d supporters, who seem to be winning the day, say he should step down or be fired from his job if he\u2019s unwilling to perform one of the duties, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nEasy-peasy solution to the issue of SSM-objecting judges<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Glenn Reynolds linked this morning to a case, one of many, of a judge who is refusing to perform same-sex marriages. \u00a0What to do? \u00a0"Marriage equality"\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/07\/easy-peasy-solution-to-the-issue-of-ssm-objecting-judges.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Easy-peasy solution to the issue of SSM-objecting judges\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Glenn Reynolds linked this morning to a case, one of many, of a judge who is refusing to perform same-sex marriages. \u00a0What to do? 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