DAVID WATERS Marriage will survive gays

Just about anybody can get married in this country.
Two atheists can rent a church and a preacher and get married with their hands on a Bible, if they want to.
Two strangers can get married in weddings arranged by their parents, their attorneys, or the Unification Church.
A convicted mass murderer on death row can get married. So can a convicted serial rapist, child molester or spouse abuser.
A man can go on a TV show and choose his bride from among 25 contestants, just so a TV network can sell ads. A woman can choose her groom the same way.
A 90-year-old man can marry a 20-year-old woman, if she'd have him. A 90-year-old woman can marry a 20-year-old man, if she'd have him.
An 18-year-old man and woman can meet tonight in a bar, drive to Las Vegas tomorrow, rent Elvis and Priscilla costumes, and get married at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel.
Jerry Lee Lewis, who once married his 13-year-old cousin, has been married six times. His sister, Linda Gail Lewis, has been married eight times.
In fact, people in this country can get married as many times as they want to.
As long as they don't marry someone of the same gender.
Unhappy with idea
That may be changing, and a lot of people aren't happy about it.
Some people are pushing for laws that allow same-sex civil unions. Others are pushing back, trying to get laws that define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
"The legalization of homosexual marriage is for gay activists merely a stepping-stone on the road to eliminating all societal restrictions on marriage and sexuality," Dr. James Dobson wrote in a recent fund-raising letter for Focus on the Family.
What restrictions? The only marriage restrictions that seem to exist for heterosexuals over 18 is that they can't marry more than one person at a time. Some still do.
It's not homosexuals who are threatening the sacred institution of marriage.
It's heterosexuals who turned marriage into a reality TV show.
It's heterosexuals who pushed the divorce rate over 50 percent.
It's heterosexuals who are co-habitating in record numbers.
I've been married to the same (unbelievably patient) woman for nearly 25 years. I believe marriage is a sacrament, a gift from God. But I won't pretend to know what God thinks of same-sex civil unions.
Maybe we should figure out a way to distinguish marriage as a legal right from marriage as a sacred rite.
Quakers
Quakers do that. They take care of all the government paperwork. After all, every marriage is a legal contract. But a Quaker couple is married not by a church or government official.
After a period of discernment among family and friends in their community, the couple marry each other in the presence of God, and other witnesses.
What man joins together is one thing. What God joins together is quite another.
XColumnist David Waters writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.