Marriage: Should the state support what is "good, and true, and beautiful"?

This week, I appeared on "Stossel" to debate the future of gay marriage with Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage.

In short, my position entails government abandoning the marriage business. This would permit individuals to enter into their own legal arrangements and accept -- or not -- any definition of marriage that suits their own moral or social outlook. It would remove the issue from courts and the vagaries of democracy. What other private relationship needs a useless stamp of approval from the state?

Needless to say, this position is probably deeply unpopular in the real world for two reasons. 1.) Social conservatives would see it as weakening of traditional marriage. 2.) It would not grant the legal, societal and state endorsement that gay marriage advocates are seeking.

Judging from this appearance, though, hipster libertarians types are on board.

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