Give a reply to the following statements.

1.

When a man and a woman become as one through holy matrimony it’s called marriage. With the laws changing it allowed same sex to be married as well. Marriage was also in the past be known or defined as a civil union. You should have at least three elements that is very salient to a couple’s marriage. Number one is the legal capacity of the parties to marry each other. Number two is the mutual consent of the parties. The third is legally required marriage contacts (Cornell Law School, 2017). A marriage is usually an alliance or arrangement that is governed by the state in which the couple resides in. This means that any rules pertaining to a legal marriage may be different it will be according to the state you are residing in. “The supreme court has ruled that states can reasonably regulate the system by stipulating who can marry and how they can marry, Dissolution” (Cornell Law School, 2017). When a couple decide they want to become as one, their relationship status go from single to married and they then have to begin their relationship on an agreed commitment built on their promise that made with one another. Overall, certain states will set limits on how individuals that will be allowed to become as one by marrying each other. There are rules on what allows you to be able to marry more than one individual and will deny you to purchase a marriage license. Normally the proper and legal way to be able to remarry is to become single by way of death or a failed marriage resulting in divorce. The U.S. Constitution will not give you the proper information about marriage, but the government will make this very political. If I had to weigh in on my opinion, I feel that when it comes to cases that are in society, they should be able to marry, and it’s done the legal way it should be on the couple decisions on who can and cannot become as one through marriage in the United States. I feel that society should only intercede if the couple have one or both under the legal age to consent to marriage. Falling in love has no age limit but some families and society may suggest marriage if a pregnancy would play a factor when it was not a planned pregnancy. According to the state of Georgia, both applicants must be 18 years of age to apply for a marriage license without parental consent. In addition, both parties must have proper identification (Georgian Marriage Permit > Requirements > Procedures > Law > GA 2017). Marriage is very sacred, and it is designed to be with you two none blood related individuals, but you have some states and countries that will allow blood related individuals to marry. It is at least 20% of the people all over the world that enters into a marriage knowing that their related. Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin married cousins, and marriage between cousins is legal in Canada and across Europe (Saletan, 2002). Marrying someone that is your blood relative and becoming pregnant comes with risks when trying to bring a baby or babies into the world that may have serious health problems. I feel a couple related should consider adopting. Marrying a cousin or closer family member should be banned from having children together because the child is who will suffer with ongoing health problems. Marrying a cousin can cause serious health problems for the child. A recent study found that when cousins are in a relationship and a child is born, the risk of spina bifida and cystic fibrosis in children are increased (M, 2014). Its selfish to know the facts but yet and still conceive a child just to make yourself happy but yet your child would be unhealthy his or her whole life.

2.

Does society and to a larger extent, the government have a right to say who gets married? I can think of a few examples as to why it should and shouldn’t off the top of my head, but I’ll see what the research says. In Obergefell v Hodges (2016), the United States ruled that its citizens had a Constitutional right to marry, therefore legalizing same-sex marriage, which has political and social implications (Hartnett, n.d.). Some see it as only a religious experience, but others see it as a way to add their significant other as a beneficiary or get tax breaks. Others see it as a governmental overreach, such as section three of the Respect for Marriage Act (2022) which deferrs much of the legal definiton of marriage to the States, allowing for the definition as to whatever is legal and valid within the State in which the couple resides (Somin, 2022). This can have larger implications as some states don’t have a minimum age for marriage, so child marriage is still legal and valid with parental permission which many state in the Union are opposed. I remember the uproar when North Carolina didn’t pass their ban on 14 year-olds being allowed to marry. The Respect for Marriage Act says that if the State recognizes the marriage, then so will the federal government, even if the couple gets married in one state and then moves to another. This protects marriages across the board, morally questionable or not. A valid marriage is a valid marriage.