Illinois Does The Right Thing…Almost

Illinois Does The Right Thing…Almost December 6, 2010

With my trip to Israel cancelled due to an illness in the family, I’ve had little to be happy about.  My former abode of Illinois did provide me with something when they passed civil union legislation.  Of course, it should be marriage, but that’s another story.

As Rabbi Adam Chalom so ably puts it in his Chicago Tribune blog post:

One of the most innovative arguments on this question claims that the religious freedom of liberal communities—from Humanistic and Reform synagogues to Unitarian and Methodist churches—to recognize same-sex couples as married is being restricted. Why shouldn’t a religious community be able to call a couple whom they consider married, “married?”

There is a short answer to this problem: the legal status granted to couples by the state can be a “civil union” (granted to the civitas, or citizen) for everyone, and the status recognized by religious institutions can be called “marriage” but carry no legal benefits. This might not solve all issues, but it would clarify the questions involved.

The family illness happens to be my mother-in-law.  Her status as such was granted to us by our civil marriage in the Province of Quebec.  It’s hard to believe that only fifty years ago Quebec was North America’s theocracy.

Why on earth does a government get involved in defining relationships between two consenting adults who have lovingly pledged to spend their lives together?  There’s only one real reason:  to appease religious fundamentalists.  It puts to the lie the Republicans’ so-called principle of staying out of people’s personal lives.


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