At first I thought this was a (really bad) joke.
Nope. Its legit.
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"The legislation, authored by State Representative Todd Russ, shifts the issuance of marriage licenses from the state to members of the clergy. Russ explained that the bill was designed to exempt government from facilitating same-sex marriages, saying:
The point of my legislation is to take the state out of the process and leave marriage in the hands of the clergy. Marriage was historically a religious covenant first and a government-recognized contract second. Under my bill, the state is not allowing or disallowing same-sex marriage. It is simply leaving it up to the clergy.
Critics of the bill cited unintended consequences of its implementation (such as the potential for the incidental legalization of plural marriage and the marriage of minors), as well as doubts about its overall constitutionality."
http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/okmarriage.asp (http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/okmarriage.asp)
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So, I understand this to mean that Oklahoman atheists can't be married? Or maybe they can, but the ceremony must be performed in a house of worship.
WTF?
This state is just making me so proud lately...
I can't wait for the first time a Muslim (or an ultraorthodox Mormon) takes a second wife and uses the free and unfettered practice of his religion as his defense -- which under this law, he would be perfectly in his rights to do.
This may turn out to be a good thing, and force the courts into defining marriage civilly rather than religiously. Because this law is going to end up in a Federal appeals court with an eye towards having it thrown out on its ass.
I know these people like to ignore separation of church and state, but how in the hell do they ever think they're going to get away with this?
Ah, the belief that marriage is an institution owned by faith, how lovely.
Here's me now waiting for the supreme court's to overturn this with a bag of twiglets
This is one of the sillier attempts at state sponsored discrimination.
Dispense with marriage altogether and render their law useless....
Oklahoma, where damned near everyone is shacking up.. I like it.. I'm shacking up..
When I was 10 years old I made a ring out of a dandelion flower and gave it to a girl and we were married in the eyes of Mother Nature. Solitary
The stupidity of this is enormous. You can be ordained free from the Universal Life Church and perform ministerial acts, so if you can't find a local preacher, a friend can be ordained to do the job. There is a very definite violation of separation of church and state here because licenses are a civil function, so they have opened themselves to a bunch of lawsuits. This is just dumb, there is nothing clever about it, and nothing proven; other than they will now be emptying their money, if they have any, defending lawsuits.
Apparently the legislature is a bunch of people too lazy to go noodling for catfish.