I think people often come to the synagogue, mosque, the church looking for God, and what we give them is religion.
The state's interest in marriage is stability. Generally speaking, polygamy does not work for stability. Inherent in the whole polygamous movement is a deep and abiding misogyny and denigration of women. So polygamy is objectionable on lots of grounds.
Stability is why society has an interest in marriage.
You know, I think Jesus was famous and also in a lot of trouble because he always chose people over sort of established procedures.
Faith is a dynamic and ever-changing process, not some fixed body of truth that exists outside our world and our understanding. God's truth may be fixed and unchanging, but our comprehension of that truth will always be partial and flawed at best.
One of the joys of being a Christian or being a person of faith is that you believe deep down that death isn't the worst thing, you know. Not living your life: that's the worst thing. And death is not, it's not all it's cracked up to be. It's not, it's not the end of the world.
I've long been really intrigued with what is the... proper role of faith and religion in public life.