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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 11, 2023

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Personally my answer for them would be to create an explicitly opt-in secondary class of marriage that functioned like marriage did in the past. I don't know how long they'd be able to keep it up in the face of regular society, but I imagine it'd be popular enough with islamic immigrants that they'd be able to call any criticism of it racist.

So some sort of privately certified pre-nup?

So some sort of privately certified pre-nup?

The problem here — as with every "you can get a traditional marriage if you want one" argument — is enforcement. Indeed, I've seen people try to argue "a properly-written pre-nup is all you need to make your marriage as it would be before no-fault divorce" online — at which point everyone else points out Diosdado v. Diosdado, and they either fall silent or resort to 'well, the Diosdados must have not done it properly; it must be possible somehow' sputtering.

Generally, it looks to me like the sort of "parallel society" thing that only really works for Hasidim and Mennonites.

Thanks for that cite, literally an eye-opener.

I wonder if an arbitration requirement would play well.

Generally, it looks to me like the sort of "parallel society" thing that only really works for Hasidim and Mennonites.

There is also a similar church court system in many paleo-protestant communities.

There is also a similar church court system in many paleo-protestant communities.

Sure, but how powerful is the threat of ostracism/expulsion in those communities to provide enforcement of the court's decision, as compared to its effectiveness in maintaining an Amish Ordnung?

What is informative in Bonds is the distinction the court drew between the freedom of contract found in ordinary commercial contracts and the existence of limitations in marital agreements.

A-ha! Perhaps you can skirt it by not calling it marriage? One the one hand they completely de-sacralize the thing, on the other they want to impose their own rigid interpretation of what marriage should be. I say go all the way and pretend it’s an ordinary commercial contract between economic entities that might as well be corporations. This is not legal advice.

Perhaps you can skirt it by not calling it marriage?

Except, for one, there's the various "common-law marriage" statutes vis-à-vis long-term cohabitation and "if it looks like a marriage." Then there's the sort of things that don't really fit on an "ordinary commercial contract between economic entities" and aren't really enforceable outside family law — most things involving the kids, for example.

This is not legal advice.

Yeah, you're definitely right on that.