After reading Rev. Trewhella's article, "5 Reasons Why Christians Should Not Obtain a State Marriage License," I began to wonder why ANYONE (even non-Christians) would want to be married with a state marriage license.
1. First and foremost, marriage is a human right. No one, including the state, can grant you the right to marry. George Washington married without a state marriage license. Marriage licenses didn't exist when the United States of America was founded. George and Martha Washington's marriage was recorded in their Family Bible.
2. When you marry with a state marriage license, you are giving the State jurisdiction over your marriage and it's fruits (your children and every piece of property you own)! If you don't believe this, look at the case of the Hauser family which is currently in the news. The courts have ordered them to submit their son to chemotherapy treatments for his cancer, even though it's against the family's spiritual beliefs and wishes, or they will lose custody of the boy! That's right. Your marriage license makes it possible for the State to come in and steal your children if the State doesn't approve of your spiritual beliefs!!! Whatever happened to the separation of church and state???!!!
3. When you marry with a state marriage license, you not only marry your spouse, but you marry the State as well. That makes you a polygamist. Is that really the kind of commitment you want to make to your spouse - the commitment to share him or her with another partner (the State)?
Many couples today are opting to be married without a state marriage license. This can be accomplished in several different ways.
a.) The couple can have their wedding ceremony performed by a minister and recorded on the Marriage Certificate in the front of their Family Bible. The certificate is signed by the minister who performed the ceremony and by two witnesses.
b.) You can obtain your marriage license through the First Nation Church and have your ceremony performed by one of their church's ministers. Since the license is issued by a church and filed with the church afterward, it's not considered a state marriage license.
c.) You can apply for and obtain a Marriage Certificate through the World Service Authority.
d.) Any couple in the United States can achieve a marriage-like status by having contracts, trusts, and other legal instruments in place which will afford them the same financial and legal protections enjoyed by those couples who were married with a state marriage license. This method is outlined in the book "Money Without Matrimony: The Unmarried Couple's Guide to Financial Security" by Sheryl Garrett and Debra Neiman.
e.) You may also opt to have the Sovereign Christian Marriage which is detailed in this book.
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