I just watched this narrated slideshow about forced marriages in Afghanistan. The photojournalist discussed how these women were immolating themselves to get out of bad marriages. Some of them survive. WARNING! Some of these pictures are graphic (NSFW).

So how does this help the institution of marriage? The traditional marriage between a man and a child bride. You might say, well, they are backwards and violent. The Mormon mindset which is not so far removed from these Afghans are the ones who funded Proposition 8. How many times have we seen in the news about a Mormon being arrested for having multiple wives? Some of these brides aren’t even old enough to drive.

There is a reason why we have separation of church and state. Marriage is a religious concept that has devolved into a secular one. The state has no business defining marriage. It can and does recognize them, but it should recognize them for what they are, a committed economic partnership between two individuals, not as between a man and a women to be treated as chattel and whose sole purpose in life is to be a baby factory.