Kevin's Weblog

The Village Voice had two good articles recently:

State to Church: I Want a Divorce

I'd Leave the Country, but My Wife Won't Let Me

The first it pretty dead on my currently feelings about marriage. That is, that the state should get the hell out of it. The whole gay marriage mess is due largely to the connotations various people attach to the word "marriage". So, let the state offer civil unions to all takers, and attach Social Security benefits, hospital visitation, 5th amendment protections, etc. to that; and let churches offer marraiges to whoever they please, with no civil implications.

Going even further, and recognizing this is completely politically impossible, toss marital status from the tax code. If the goal is to reward family formation, then tax breaks for children are sufficient. But there's just no reason why a married person with children ought to come out thousands of dollars a year ahead of a "head of household" with children.