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Editorial - Marriage Is a Constitutional Right - NYTimes.com

An interesting and cogent defense of the rights of individuals to 'marriage'... whatever that word means. I am still troubled by one element of this interpretation by the US Federal Court: what does 'marriage' now mean? If it is simply a registration of a legal domestic relationship - something that every citizen possesses according to this ruling, does the state still possess the capacity to determine what a 'marriage' is? Is it necessarily limited to a relationship between two individuals, or can other configurations be accepted? Will there need to be a separate set of laws that will govern sexual relationships within 'marriage' to ensure the genetic health of any progeny that would spring from the marital act? Would this not be a gross intrusion of the state into the 'bedrooms of the nation', unraveling legal definitions that we have benefited from since the 1960's? Fr. Tim Editorial - Marriage Is a Constitutional Right - NYTimes.com

But what do we mean when we say "marriage"?

The American Catholic website posts a brilliant analysis on how it is that Christians and secularists use the term "marriage" to mean different things. The traditional interpretation of a life long union oriented towards creativity is now been redefined to mean a "contractual form of couplehood". The arguments presented are powerful and insightful and will enlighten anyone who is engaged in the current debates over the enshrinement of the new secular definition into law. The article is posted in the Referred Articles box, or you can copy and paste the link below. http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/11/06/you-keep-using-that-word-i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means/