Comments on: Why Sarcasm is Dangerous… http://anaedream.com/2009/10/27/why-sarcasm-is-dangerous-fb/ The Blatherings of Kathryn Nerys Baker Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:41:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Eric http://anaedream.com/2009/10/27/why-sarcasm-is-dangerous-fb/comment-page-1/#comment-3171 Eric Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:21:53 +0000 http://anaedream.com/?p=1789#comment-3171 Maybe the sarcasm shouldn't be. There are times that I think the Right has actually made a convincing case for the state to stay out of <i>all</i> marriages (and, by extension, all divorces). Why should the state ratify people's roommate status, straight or gay? Why should people ever be allowed to file for taxes jointly? Why not simply make it the law that if one member of a couple dies without exercising the foresight to draft a proper will, property reverts to the state? As for child custody: if adults can't act like adults, why should they be allowed to tie up public resources (judges, clerks, courtrooms) with their juvenile grandstanding when we have Social Services in place to swoop in when adults fail to responsibly take care of their own kids? Thing is, I'm not entirely tongue-in-cheek here. Maybe the answer to the gay marriage issue isn't to legalize same-sex marriage, but to delegalize marriage entirely. Leave it as a religious ceremony for those interested in exercising such rites, conferring no more legal recognition or benefits than that given to answering an ad on Craigslist for a roommate to split the rent with; and, it follows from that, divorce is the same, left to churches to sever if a couple insists on having their disunion recognized. No, I'm not sure how serious I am. But I'm not being entirely facetious or sarcastic, either. Maybe the sarcasm shouldn’t be. There are times that I think the Right has actually made a convincing case for the state to stay out of all marriages (and, by extension, all divorces). Why should the state ratify people’s roommate status, straight or gay? Why should people ever be allowed to file for taxes jointly? Why not simply make it the law that if one member of a couple dies without exercising the foresight to draft a proper will, property reverts to the state? As for child custody: if adults can’t act like adults, why should they be allowed to tie up public resources (judges, clerks, courtrooms) with their juvenile grandstanding when we have Social Services in place to swoop in when adults fail to responsibly take care of their own kids?

Thing is, I’m not entirely tongue-in-cheek here. Maybe the answer to the gay marriage issue isn’t to legalize same-sex marriage, but to delegalize marriage entirely. Leave it as a religious ceremony for those interested in exercising such rites, conferring no more legal recognition or benefits than that given to answering an ad on Craigslist for a roommate to split the rent with; and, it follows from that, divorce is the same, left to churches to sever if a couple insists on having their disunion recognized.

No, I’m not sure how serious I am. But I’m not being entirely facetious or sarcastic, either.

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