Ron Paul & Rudy on Marriage

Ron Paul answers well on why he opposes a Federal marriage amendment primarily for federalism reasons. He also notes that marriage came under modern state control in the US about a hundred years ago for public health concerns. Secondarily, Paul makes the excellent point that he thinks marriage belongs to the private sphere, namely to ecclesiastical institutions.

Rudy says he disagrees marriage is not just a religious institution, but it is a civil institution as well. He knows, he married people.

For some LRC views on separating marriage and state see Prof. Stephen Safranek’s analysis here, and my own here. Along similar lines see Prof. Daniel Crane’s “A ‘Judeo Christian’ Argument for Privatizing Marriage,” in the Cardozo Law Review.