Q&A: State and Marriage
State and Marriage
Question
From a liberal point of view, should the state have criteria for marriage? In a liberal utopia, can a person marry several women and men at the same time? Their siblings? Things that are not human beings?
If the state has nothing to say about it, isn’t that a kind of “opening that invites the thief” that leads to the growth of negative phenomena?
Answer
In my opinion, the state has nothing to say about it, except to make sure there is nothing problematic there in the sense of exploitation, of unsuspecting innocents or minors. Liberalism can indeed lead to problematic outcomes, but intervention leads to outcomes that are no less problematic.
Discussion on Answer
There is no choice but to trust them. If you decide for them, it will be much worse, as I wrote. One can always bring absurd cases like marrying a car, but that isn’t what we’re talking about.
Why would it be much worse if we decide for them? On what basis do you say there is no choice but to trust them without restraints? I’m not writing this to attack; I’m genuinely asking.
Let’s say the state abolishes the Rabbinate—still, that doesn’t mean there are no criteria for marriage, and that every criterion is bad, right?
Even in the most liberal state there are some criteria.
We’re just splitting hairs. I wrote that there are cases in which it should not be recognized (marriage to a car). In areas where there is no such certainty, there is no justification for intervention. That’s all.
This is going to sound a bit dictatorial, but
can you really rely on the wishes of those people? Maybe in such a situation all kinds of terrible marriages will drag people in who at that moment thought they wanted something, but didn’t really understand what it meant (even people over 18 can be naive). Isn’t it moral abandonment to let mentally ill people “marry” dogs or luxury cars? By the way, what would such a “marriage” contract between a person and an inanimate object even look like legally, for example?
Obviously excessive coercion leads to problems, but instead of that, should we go to the other extreme? Can’t some other balance be found that would lead to optimal results?