The following is an excerpt written by Baptist Pastor Don Milton. Pastor Milton is a writer and a thorough student of scripture. He writes some very sobering thoughts here in reply to an earnest man:

Dear Seeking Light in Alaska:

The short answer is that they're equally important but your question brings up complex issues. I'll try to address the major issues that your question brings up by beginning with my positions. As in all biblical discussions let's remember that only that which the Bible calls sin is in fact sin. In this article I will lay out my positions that provide the groundwork for our discussion of these issues of marriage, divorce, and adultery.

1.) The state has no business regulating marriage.

2.) The state has no business "protecting" the welfare of children. (Other than offering the same protections to children that other citizens have without stepping o­n parental rights.)

3.) The state has no business regulating divorces.

4.) The state has no business keeping records of divorces.

5.) The churches have a responsibility to record marriages and divorces and to encourage their members and the community to show guidance and love to their children.

6.) A church that has never disfellowshipped anyone is a backslidden church for no matter how righteous it may appear o­n the outside, it is rotten o­n the inside. The congregation as well as the church leadership is responsible for making sure that unrepentant adulterers, adulteresses, and fornicators are not part of the congregation and that the presence of those who have repented of these transgressions and sins will not cause strife within the congregation.

7.) Revival is the cure for a decaying culture, not government intrusion into our marriages and our families.

Neither the Church nor the Government has Authority Over Marriage

 The churches have corporately sinned in a number of ways regarding marriage and family. First, they have falsely presumed to have authority over marriage and second, based o­n that false presumption, they have taken it upon themselves to cede that authority (an authority they never had) to "man" (government). Jesus clearly stated "Therefore, let not man (government) put asunder what God has joined." By ceding authority over marriage (which they did not have in the first place) to the government, the churches allowed a false doctrine to begin, the doctrine that a wife can divorce her husband. By doing so they have usurped the husband's authority over marriage and weakened the family. Some statistics show upwards of three fourths of all divorces in America are initiated by women. The bible gives husbands the authority to issue a Bill of Divorcement. The Bible does not give such authority to wives. The result of this wholesale theft of a husband's authority is that many women are living in adultery without knowing it.

This is because women who "divorce" their husbands without their husband concurring with the divorce are not divorced at all according to the Bible. The church's abdication of its role of supporting biblical standards has thus caused many women to enter second marriages believing that they're truly divorced when they are not. They become adulteresses unbeknownst to themselves! The Church, being a co-conspirator in the promotion of this ungodly world view (the false teaching that women can divorce their husbands) is likewise guilty of the crime of adultery. A crime punishable by death.

Part of "christian" society's justification for allowing the state to regulate marriage has always been to protect the children. This liberal policy of intrusion into the lives of families to protect the children has not worked to the benefit of the children in general and in modern times this excuse has been used to grow intrusive government social programs beyond what the taxpayers can support. In Washington State a parent cannot even eavesdrop o­n the phone conversation of their underage child without being guilty of a crime! In most of America Children are legally entitled to abortions, mind altering medications, and exposure to pornography, disguised as sex education, all in the name of protecting the children. If that's protecting the children then how much better off would we be if the the government would protect our enemies instead! In the name of "protecting" our children the government is in fact stealing their childhood, encouraging behavior that will result in life threatening diseases, and subjecting them to drugs known to cause an increase in suicidal thoughts and violent behavior. (Prozac, ridlin, etc.)

So how does the state promote the protection of children without destroying the lives of the very children it purports to protect? It cannot. It must o­nly protect children from physical abuse. No more than that. When the state tries to go beyond protecting children from physical abuse it has shown itself to be a dismal failure. Parental rights must be restored immediately. The best way to make sure that parents exercise their rights in ways that will indeed foster the healthy growth of their children into adulthood is to have a healthy environment for Christianity to take root, grow, and bear fruit. The best start toward these ends would be to take away all tax breaks for churches.

Churches that take government tax breaks owe the government and their behavior shows this. When a church takes from Rome then it owes Rome. Although I respect President Bush in much of what he does and believe that he is sincere, his "Faith-Based Initiative" to promote charity through churches will result in the liberalization of churches and an increase in non-Christian religions. This is because those Faith-Based organizations will be required to meet ever more godless government guidelines in order to keep receiving funds. It is surprising that the ACLU doesn't support President Bush's Faith-Based Initiative in that these well-intentioned policies will weaken Christian institutions and strengthen institutions that are based o­n socialism, an atheist philosophy. I believe that, in fact, many ACLUers do support it because they know the results will favor more government and less fundamentalist Christian churches willing to stand up for what they believe.

So what we need is a revival and that revival must include things that prior revivals have not included. The revival we need must include biblical teachings o­n marriage without the Roman, Greek, or other Western cultural biases that most of today's churches are teaching. That revival must begin within the churches. You, my friend, must boldly confront your church when it comes to its teachings o­n marriage. The first step is to set up a Chastity Club in your church. The lesson plan will start with "The Adulterers Among Us." Other lesson plans will include: "Fornication - Must We Tolerate It?" and "If Gay Marriage is the Next Step, Shouldn't Christians Just Boycott Government Marriages?" and "What is Marriage Anyway."

My dear friend, if not you, who. If not now, when?

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Pastor Milton's website can be located at http://www.christianmarriage.com/home