JOSHUA CLINARD

The Case for a Covenant

We live in a society where marriage—a deeply personal, spiritual, and communal commitment—has been co-opted by the state. We treat a marriage license like a driver’s license: a permission slip from the government that allows two people to form a union. But when the state grants the license, it also reserves the right to regulate, tax, and, eventually, dismantle the union on its own terms. It is time to return to the idea that marriage is a function of the church and the community, not the government.

The Problem with 'State-Sanctioned' Unions

When the government becomes a third party to a marriage, it shifts the focus from a personal covenant to a contractual obligation. We have allowed the state to become the arbiter of human relationships, assigning 'fault,' dividing assets, and dictating how families function long after a marriage has dissolved. Government-run divorce courts often prioritize bureaucracy over actual healing or responsibility. They operate on a punitive model: someone must be the 'winner,' and someone must be the 'loser.' This model creates perverse incentives where the state rewards the dissolution of families rather than supporting them.

A Return to Moral Responsibility

If we removed the government from marriage, we would be forced to return to the only entities capable of truly handling such unions: the church and the community. Marriage should be a covenant recognized by a couple’s faith and their community, not a contract enforced by a bureaucrat. If a marriage breaks, the resolution shouldn't be found in a government courtroom, but through the mediation of the community and the moral guidance of the church. This would shift the focus back to responsibility rather than legislation.

Fixing the Custody and Support Crisis

The current 'State Model' has created a disastrous approach to child support and custody. We have turned child support into a bureaucratic wealth transfer that often bypasses the child entirely. If marriage were a church-governed covenant:

• 50/50 Custody would be the default. There is no 'non-custodial' parent in a healthy community model. Both parents have equal moral responsibility to the child.
• Financial support would be direct. Parents would be responsible for the child’s needs in their own home. If a father is actively parenting 50% of the time, he is providing the food, the shelter, and the care.
• The focus would be on the child, not the conflict. Removing the state removes the incentive for divorce lawyers to drag out conflict for profit.

The Path Forward

The government has no business determining who is 'at fault' in a private relationship or deciding how to distribute private property based on a state-mandated scale. The state’s involvement in marriage has done nothing but professionalize conflict and incentivize the breakdown of the family unit. Let the government stick to roads and public safety, and let the church and the family handle the rest. When we restore marriage as a covenant, we stop fighting against the system and start rebuilding the foundation of the home.

Author's Note: As a professional who spends his life building systems and solving technical problems, I’ve seen enough to know that the 'system' we have now is fundamentally flawed. We don't need more laws; we need to return to first principles.