[Magdalen] Ireland

[Jim Guthrie]

>Yes, I agree. We (as an example) have never wished to marry (yea,
>e'en after forty-nine years together), agreeing that, even though

Much of the discussion fails to recognize that it all depends -- depends on jobs 
and income, depends on the desire to have kids, depends on many civil things 
that are irrelevant to church of any kind, though some, like the RC's have tried 
to adopt the policy "Those civil things belong to US because WE determine who 
gets married."

It's a goofy argument -- one that hasn’t been relevant in the United States in 
about a hundred years.

It should also be noted that in the 18th and 19th Century in North America, 
church or church-approved weddings were in the minority by far -- the majority 
of marriages in the U.S. were "Common Law" until the 1920s, at least -- eclipsed 
by immediate government/civil recognition of the knot was tied formally, rather 
than waiting some years and going through a lot of legal hassle.

Have no idea how things worked in other countries.

But I hasten to add that with the number of churches now recognizing and 
celebrating same sex marriages,  it has become positively un-American of the 
Catholic Bishops and Conservative Evangelicals to demand government enforce 
THEIR teaching against other denominations.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie