A.L.E.R.T.
(America Law Education Rights & Taxation)

12-01-2001
Old Time Holy Matrimony

I just received an e-mail from 'Ryan' who asks: 

Greetings Gordon, I have just come into contact with your site, and have enjoyed the truth that you share with our fellow Americans, and I have also read your article about marriage license.

I have a question to ask of you! My fiance and I are getting married in a week, and we have decided to not get a marriage license. I have done a good bit of research on the subject 
and have come to understand that there is no legal requirement but aside from that fact there is no moral obligation for us to ask for 'permission' to marry as God is the author of marriage from the beginning of time. 

Since we are not obtaining a license we are not acquiring a licensed pastor to officiate the wedding, and this has caused a great amount of stress for my fiance. Her parents are not happy and think we will live in 'sin' because we don't go to the state for permission. I also have some family that will not come to the wedding for the same reason. I have done everything I can to share with them the reasons and yet they still cannot come to understand what and why we are doing this.

Do you have any information that could help us explain this better, websites, or do you even know of anyone who would be willing to talk to us or email us.....? Thanks for your time and keep sharing the truth no matter how hard it is! 

Sincerely, 

Ryan

* * *

(Gordon emerges from a nearby phone booth, cranks up his trusty Commodore word processor and whips out the following, realizing the desperately shrinking time frame at hand)

Dear Ryan,

Good to hear from you. As one who has cheerfully walked the plank, I can assure you that I am a far better man for the experience (my wife has almost finished whipping me into shape). Here's my story. Perhaps it will provide you with some ammo to open minds.

Still lacking any clue as to what she sees in me, my sweetheart and I married each other on a Wednesday in October of 1996 (the two-year anniversary of our first date). We could have easily walked out into an open field and married each other at any time, alone, in the eyes of the Creator. But it we'd been struck by a speeding meteorite on the way back to the house, no one would ever know we'd been married (except the Creator). 

So we arranged to conjoin in matrimony in a beautiful ceremony arranged before 100 happy, witnessing wedding guests, complete with an arch, flowers, uncomfortable shoes, and a Pastor friend officiating as the chief witness. 

Neither of us had bothered to obtain a 'blood test'. We already knew we contained blood. Nor did we get a license. Licenses apply only in situations where the State condones an activity that it declares would otherwise be illegal. 

To think that a man and a woman need the permission (license) of government at any level before REALLY being engaged in the Covenant of Holy Matrimony is a ludicrous indication of how fearful most Americans are today of their own public servants, to the point of practically needing a permit before going to the bathroom. 

Trace the current marriage laws back and you will find that many stem from the period of Reconstruction after the War of Northern Aggression (which some incorrectly still call the 'Civil War') when Negroes and whites needed a license in order to miscegenate (intermarry between the races).

You mentioned your relatives' concern that you would be "living in sin." To my mind, the real sin would be converting a right into a privilege. The bottom line is that marriage is NOT a privilege, it is a RIGHT. Privileges can be regulated and licensed. Rights cannot. Simple, isn't it? And remember, you are marrying each other, not your relatives! ;-)

Note that I did not say that my wife and I 'were married'. No one, not even our dear friend the witnessing Pastor, performed some act UPON us, threw a connubial net OVER us, or did anything TO us. We did not marry the State. We married EACH OTHER, man and woman. Eyeball to eyeball. It was wonderful! 

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful with my bride a radiant angel in a stunning white gown. A friend sang 'The Lord's Prayer' a cappella in basso profundo. Everyone was weeping (not at his singing, it was exquisite). At the end, I scooped up my new bride in my arms to enthusiastic applause and carried her down the aisle. 

We videotaped the entire ceremony for posterity (with multiple copies cached in various offsite fireproof locations ;-). To satisfy any bureaucrat who may ever ask us for "our papers", we had several witnesses execute an 'Affidavit of Witness of Marriage' which we then got notarized. I also created an attractive "Marriage Certificate" using an Olde English font. I even added a gold border and a red ribbon. 

Stop and think of how many differently formatted MC's have been used in the counties and parishes in this country in just the past 100 years. Thousands! There is no standard anywhere. So make up your own! Show this certificate (framing it adds a nice touch) to any functionary and they will do what functionaries do: check off the appropriate box indicating that you handed them the expected paperwork. Works every time. Also, don't forget to make an entry in the Family Bible. There isn't a court in the country that won't recognize that. The bottom line is this: so far as the world is concerned, you will be fully documented and totally ohh-fisshul!

The only thing different about our ceremony from a 'licensed' ceremony is that no one intoned the following solemn words at the end: 

'By the power vested in me by the State of [Whatever] -- which will wait patiently with its hands in your pockets to probate your estate one day when you both kick the bucket -- I hereby sprinkle Magic State Marriage Dust over the two of you and declare that you are married ONLY because His Excellency, the Governor, says that you're married, which means that you are now a fully verified entry in the Cray XQ111 Supercomputer marriage database over at the State capitol, with the understanding that this private information will be shared indiscriminately with all other computers, everywhere on Earth, forever.'

As of this day, I certainly still feel married. Our parents still think we're married. Our friends still think we're married. Everyone we know still thinks we're married. I guess we're married! 

However, just to be ABSOLUTELY sure, after reading your message I went and asked my far better half if SHE still feels married. She slowly lowered her newspaper, smiled, and rolled her eyes to affirm.

Great kidder, her.