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Re: What Constitutues a Biblical Marriage?
I wondered if someone was going to post that picture of marriages in the Bible.
I'd also note that until after the Civil War, slaves were not permitted to contract marriages recognized under law, because they were property. So the slaves came up with their own rituals (e.g., "jumping the broom") to mark their own relationships. It didn't matter to the slaveowners, if they wanted to break up families, for whatever reason, they did, and there was no law stopping them. I have to wonder about the long-term impacts of a couple hundred years of constantly looming familial destabilization. It's not something that changed overnight, either. Up until 1967, interracial marriages were illegal in many states.
(I still remember my shock when I found my family's surname on a list of names to be scrutinized by Virginia county clerks when issuing marriage licenses, in order to catch people who were trying to marry across the color line. I also know that some of my ancestors would move a few states away and then marry across the color line, in a place where they weren't known. It's a weird feeling to imagine your ancestors getting married in defiance of law.)
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