A Season for Spiritual War:

[houston]

You just decided to be married and now you’re married?

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by houston

You just decided to be married and now you’re married?

No. I've explained it over and over and over and over and over and over and over. And interestingly, most people get it. It's only a loud handful of you guys who don't. Here's an excellent threat on the topic (not even started by me) where it is discussed in greater detail:

Is a marriage license a scam?
http://www.apostolicfriendsforum.com...ad.php?t=50818

I was in a civil marriage for 12 years. My spouse was unfaithful, chose to divorce, and financially devastated me. The way the laws are written, any innocent party in a marriage can be wrecked by the system unless they can afford an excellent attorney. That's when I began investigating the history of civil marriage (which didn't exist in the United States until 1920's). I began to look at the history of "no fault" divorce filing and statutes that essentially eliminate the relevance of being the "innocent party" in a divorce unless one's spouse was guilty of something "criminal".

The marriage covenant was supposed to offer "protections" for faithful spouses, not "liabilities". But the government got involved and actually made divorce rather lucrative. So lucrative in fact, many women (and even sometimes men) marry for the sheer purpose of divorcing a well to do spouse. At no time in human history has "marriage" contained such liabilities for faithful spouses.

In my studies, I discovered various groups such as the Quakers, Southern Baptists, Amish, and others who have recognized marriage outside of the civil constructs. I even made a few Quaker friends who have explained their convictions to me on the issue. Even today there are a number of fundamentalist Christian churches who do not require a couple to be in a "civil marriage" before recognizing them as married in the sight of God. In fact, the house church network I'm a part of isn't a big fan of "civil marriage". In fact, our elders aren't even licensed with the government as ministers. Elders bless couples in the eyes of God, but they do not officiate any "civil" or "government" recognized ceremonies. If a couple is interested in "civil marriage", they are encouraged to seek one through a Justice of the Peace, or other civil agent of the state.