Why is marriage licensed by government?

Question

It seems just about everything this day and age is licensed in one form or another. One day perhaps the world over as in China you will need a license to procreate, or birth certificates will give way to birth licenses.

Isnt it enough just have a marriage certificate? A license by definition is a permission by the state to allow something that would otherwise constitute as an illegal act. As in a drivers license, a gun license an alcohol license for those establishments serving liquor. So is it a sensible thing for our own governments to have to impose on us their seal of approval otherwise we risk committing an illegal act? Sure theres always being able to keep it defacto for those wanting to stick it to the man. But I would assume from a humanistic point of view the goverment should only go as so far as issuing a certificate to state for the record, not because we need its permission for such a sacred thing. Or are we really not at liberty according to our governments?

I will quote the following famous phrase as food for thought.

"When liberty becomes license, dictatorship is near" (Will Durant).

Answer 1

You have a good argument, but it's all semantics really - the word license means you have to qualify for it (prove you're of age, aren't married to anyone else, etc.).   Just for kicks I looked at mine & it states "Certificate of Registry of Marriage" at the top & the word "license" doesn't appear anywhere on it, nor is anyone giving us "permission" lol.  BTW - I'm in California & got married in 1982, so it's nothing new.  

Answer 2

Well MA it was the same in your day in Rome. The original reason was to show your place in good standing with the government in power and to show that religious authority was separate from the government and meant to be recognize in a different way and it was up to the government to decide the way and not the church and of course be able to tax. You yourself made quite a few taxes too remember.

Answer 3

so they can tax it

Answer 4

Ok this is a sticky one. But you will find that its mostly driven by the enforcement of legal age and when two people to marry. Otherwise anyone could marry anyone else of any age regardless. It is I guess no difference to the legal age to of drinking or driving. It just means that even s*x and love is not permitted openly unless you are over 18. But for libertarians out there, I can see why this could be interpreted as another way our government encroaches our freedoms.

Once upon a time it was legal to marry persons under the age of 18, even now its legal in most countries to have s*x with a person of 16 but not legal to marry them unless under very exceptional circumstances with the parents permission. Strange yes?

Such is the western legal system, Im sure there is some political motivation that serves the better good to keeping a society like ours running like clockwork. And yes we will haplessly throughout our consumerist lifestyles, fuel the cogs of capitalism and the excesses of greed for those corporate heavies to keep on keeping on. But on the flipside at least we can look forward to guiltless "legal" s*x with our tired old spouses and live our "free" lives as we pay almost 1/3 of our incomes in taxes, bank fees and smile happily at our debt slavery lifestyles.

Answer 5

It started out as a way to control interracial marriage. When the laws were written, it was illegal for "Neg ros" to marry whites.

License was a way to make sure that the white race remained pure.

There... A little history lesson for you.

Our marriage license laws are based on racism from years ago.

Answer 6

With the divorce rates as high as they are currently, I don't see how marriage is a good thing, or sacred. As far as having to get a marriage license, not sure although the previous answer makes sense. (Hold over from old racism) I do know that the freedom America is supposed to have has vanished and something needs to be done about it.

Answer 7

From a legal standpoint, a marriage is a contract.  Marriages are licensed by the government to formalize the contract between the two individuals.

Answer 8

A marriage license is part of the protection of children and spouses that include rights to other persons.  Part of marriage is about property rights.

One of the reasons why persons are reviewing the meaning of legal marriage now is the unreasonable, perhaps unconstitutional, denial of equality to homosexual persons.  This is reminiscent of the days when some states banned marriage between persons of different races.

Marriage is also spiritual and, therefore, a license is unnecessary for that part of the relationship.  Part of true love is to give your partner and your children all the rights you can.  So, even if you have spiritually married your partner, the rights of legal marriage are important.

BTW: The Durant quote uses "license" in its alternative meaning: "freedom to behave without restraint", from the Latin "licentia", meaning ‘freedom, licentiousness’