[Magdalen] Supreme Court

[Jim Guthrie]

From: James Handsfield

>I don’t know how long, but the couple can declare themselves married under 
>common law immediately if they wish.

One thing that proponents of "Traditional Marriage in Church omit is that most 
U.S. Marriages were common-law until well into the beginning of the 20th 
Century. Many states had a law that if a couple lived together for seven years, 
a common law marriage was assumed by the state.  And churches usually accepted 
those common law marriages as legitimate (I think the RCC being something of an 
exception in some places) without benefit of clergy.

Probably the biggest change in marriage in the U.S. came as a result of the 
imposing of the Federal Income Tax (originally passed as a means of replacing 
excise taxes on liquor so as to facilitate prohibition). There's nothing like 
financial incentive to move Americans along. One could say the modernist view of 
"traditional marriage" is an unintended consequence of banning liquor <g>.

The final nail in the coffin of "tradition marriage"(i.e. Common Law) was the 
start of Social Security. It was difficult to sign up originally as a married 
couple without any evidence of the marriage other than the common law 
assumption.

Now, the question is: Will same sex couples marriages end up with parents 
mortgaging their house and otherwise going deeply in debt to celebrate their 
offsprings' marriage?  Or will it have a sensible moderating effect on such 
extravaganzas.

Cheers,
Jim