Barton: 'We Have An Inalienable Right To Marriage To Be A Man And A Woman And No Other Combination' | Right Wing Watch

Barton said that the institution of marriage was created by God long before government ever existed, and therefore "government can't get over into God's jurisdiction."

"Whatever God did in Genesis 1-8, government will protect but it cannot redefine, it cannot change," he said:

Problem::Marriage predates the Bible, as attested to by the Code of Hammurabi, c. 1780 BCE. Not only did "marriage" exist before the Bible, it still exists in absence of the Bible, today. No single religion, belief system, culture or race can stake claim or ownership over the concept of "marriage." Only their own individual interpretations of it.

Problem::And which God are you referring to?

Problem::Which forms of biblical marriage shall we accept as correct? Perhaps we should accept polygamous arranged marriage in which women are exchanged for years of service (Genesis 29:15-30)? Or maybe we allow women to be taken as the spoils of war and treated in whatever way their conquerors see fit (Deuteronomy 20:10-15)? How about forced marriage in which a woman must marry her rapist (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)? There are more but the gist is obvious, the Bible does not say “marriage is defined by God as between one man and one woman.” (I'll deal with Matthew 19:3-12 another time as it actually deals with divorce.)

Also consider prior to Gen 12, Judaism as "religion" or a people did not exist before to Abram's call:

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (KJV)

Just for fun, here is a conundrum to ponder, exactly what type of "marriage" did Jesus perform the water to wine trick at? Since prior to Acts the Christian church didn't exist yet:

 "And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." (Acts 11:26) 

In fact the Christian church did not even have a sacrament of marriage until the middle ages, it was a contractual arrangement under the law before then.

(Who would have thunk that random comments I left on various articles throughout the inter-webs would come in handy.)

Barton: 'We Have An Inalienable Right To Marriage To Be A Man And A Woman And No Other Combination' | Right Wing Watch