Credit to Thomas Pearson for this link to the 2005 reason.com article My Privatized Valentine, a column highlighting the story of the original St. Valentine. I am not a libertarian, but I am regularly intrigued by posts on Thomas's wall. While Wikipedia does not validate the column's story (almost certainly negating its truth), the post nevertheless raises the issue of the state's involvement in marriage.
I haven't ever understood why the state has any role in "legalizing" marriage. I understand the need for a government to gather such information for means of understanding (and taxing) its population, but I don't get why that government has the right to tell me whom I can or cannot marry. Marriage is a social contract. We marry before a congregation of friends and family that we may be held accountable and that our marriage may be recognized in its communal context. However, unless the government plans on participating in that accountability and protection, they will do well to stay out of the civil union business.
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