F*ck the KoC and their "Traditional Marriage" Flier in CA

[stopbush]

Pre-election, my son brought home a Knights of Columbus flier supporting Yes on Prop 8. That flier asserted that "traditional" marriage was instituted "by god," and that it was only between a man and a woman, ie: the Biblical version.

Say wha?

The FIRST marriages on record took place in Egypt. They were strictly CIVIL arrangements. No gods or religion were involved whatsoever. The upper classes had contracts between the husband and the bride's father. The bride had no say in who she married. In the lower classes, the woman (often a 13-14 year old girl) simply picked up her few belongings and moved in with the guy she liked.

This is important because while the ancient Egyptians were OBSESSED with religion and religious ritual, religion had absolutely no part in Egyptian marriages.

In later centuries, the Egyptians added a veneer of religion to their marriages, along with a bit of ritual, but these remained civil arrangements.

So, what's that say to the fucking Christians and their harping on "traditional" marriages? Whose traditions? What about their claims that marriage was instituted by god? Which god? Looks like Horus and Isis beat old Yahweh and Jesus to the instituted-by-god punch by at least a few millenia.

Are the Christians willing to admit that the gods who "instituted" THEIR marriages were the gods of Egypt, and not the gods of the Hebrews? Or, do the Christians aver that it's THEIR Judeo-Xian tradition that's the only tradition one may base a state-recognized. legal marriage upon, even though their "tradition" - while ancient - is PRE-DATED by traditions and, yes, even other GODS by thousands and thousands of years? Isn't it obvious that their god-instituted marriages are based on the later-centuries Egyptian model?

If the Xians are allowed to ignore the traditions and gods of ancient Egypt and to institute their own, latter-day, Johnny-come-lately "traditions" about who institutes and what constitutes a legal marriage, then why can't everyone else be allowed to re-define or enact a new tradition of what constitutes marriage, ignoring the Christian model just as surely as the Christians ignore the ancient Egyptian model?

Or, should the rest of us just sit back while these bigoted and hypocritical assholes ignore the history that hoists on a petard their own arguments about traditions and gods being the basis for what constitutes a marriage in the fucking 21st century?

[amdezurik]

1. sounds like the Mormans copied the Egyptian

way of doing things..."The upper classes had contracts between the husband and the bride's father. The bride had no say in who she married. " with the "upper classes" being the preachers

[drmeow]

2. I think ads like that

could be part of a successful challenge of gay marriage bans as evidence that it violates the First Amendment religion clause.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

3. Sure, we can make that argument for the Catholic sacrament of marriage,

but I was under the impression we were dealing with the legal construct of marriage in prop 8.

Trivia fact: The sacrament of marriage is the youngest of the seven Catholic sacraments, not formally recognized until 1215 at the Fourth Lateran Council. As such, many Protestant denominations do not recognize marriage as a sacrament.