North Dakota (and apparently 7 other states) still has a law on the books that makes cohabitation illegal.
Recent attempts to overturn the law have failed, but the current attempt seems to be working, with adjustments.
Opponents of the law say it’s “unenforced, unconstitutional and silly.” Proponents say it has “important symbolic value.”
What do you say?
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February 28, 2007 at 12:56
Personally, I don’t believe in symbolic laws. Nor do I believe that laws should govern that tightly. I don’t think that Jesus, Peter or Paul argued for a government that deeply involved with individual moral decisions.
It’s also dangerous. Once we allow the government to pass laws according to one viewpoint, we are also allowing government to pass laws in these areas in opposing non-Christian viewpoints.
Or put another way, I’d rather have a limited government that neither Christians nor non-Christians can easily use against us, than to create what we have – a government that claims the right to everything, including the bedroom. Better to develop government guardrails to prevent abuse.
As a great example, I wish we had done that in the area of marriage. At the stroke of a pen, the USA changed its marriage laws to provide for no fault divorce. Legally, you and I cannot choose to have a “traditional Christian viewpoint” marriage in the USA. It’s isn’t a legal option. (Some states now are attempting legal Covenant marriages, but I dont know how they stand up if your spouse goes to another state and files for divorce.)
In fact, even if you HAD previously chosen a Christian marriage, the legal obligations of it were nullified when the laws changed.
My point? I’d rather have a checklist of alternate marriage viewpoints to choose from, some openly ungodly, than to have no truly Christian choice at all. I’d rather have the freedom to personally sin, than to have limits to righteous options. And so I am concerned about bedroom laws and the like, because I am concerned with setting precedents that later can become ammo.
February 28, 2007 at 19:10
I don’t feel that an unenforced law should be in the books. Did God put any laws in the Bible He did not intend to enforce? Are there any symbolic laws in His word?
I understand that lawmaking entities should stand up for what they believe. I applaud that communities would make the unpopular decisions to condemn sexual sins. Nevertheless, wagging a finger from the front lawn is a useless and time-wasting endeavor.
March 1, 2007 at 01:26
I think I have found a reason to want to move to North Dakota.
March 6, 2007 at 00:00
I think Kim is onto something. As an “Astro-Christian”, I’ve compared numerous Christian “sects” and I really like the so-called “Mormon” idea of a guy and girl getting to know each other for 2 years before getting “married”
- which is what “cohabitation” really is- without the public witnessing. We’re procreating “units” whether we like it or not. The ladies, in my view, like Kim, have a deep genetic and spiritual awareness of their need for fulfillment as human procreators—and this has to be looked at. I myself cohabitated—and made so many mistakes it stopped being funny a long time ago—Young women should not cohabitate—they do so at the risk of loss of their entire fulfilment as humans and the loss of their highest potentials. Kim, email me if you would. Good choice—