Updating marital statuses for work

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angell1

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for some reason this uneasy feeling keeps coming back about this aspect of my job.

i work for the taxation department, it’s been a couple years now. for the most part, the job is great

but there is one small aspect, clients call to update their marital statuses, married (which includes remarriage and same-sex "marriage’), common-law (whihch is essentially co-habitation after 12 months of if they live together and have a child together), and then single, separated, divorced, widowed.

i have ot make the changes on their files when they call in, so i would be putting them to single to married, etc… even if they were previously divorced, even if it’s a same sex couple, all that kind of thing.

I’m not personally condoning anything but the government does recognize things that catholics don’t, so am i somehow participating in that? and i do have to explain the definition of the statuses if taxpayers ask.

I’ve never encountered this yet but i believe i may also have to changer a child’s gender code if the parents ask, or a taxpayers gender code, or at least tell them that they have to send a letter in to change it.

would any of this fall under the category of cooperation of evil? i tried to think of it as just transcribing facts of peoples’ lives but i am not so sure all the time. it was really hard to get a job in the first place, and finding another one would be equally difficult.

what are your thoughts? or maybe this is just scruples?
 
Glennon_P’s analogy is a good one. I’m an investigator who has spent the majority of my career working child sexual abuse crimes. I’ve had to repeat some horrible things in court, (i.e. statements made by suspects or victims) but at no time did my doing so endorse these evil acts. Same with you, you are reporting basic information that people give you and nothing more.
 
the court is trying to prosecute a crime though, not socially or governmentally accept a situation or give it recognition
 
but generally they are trying to establish something as criminal in a courtroom
 
The government does not decide who is married but they do decide who is divorced and who is remarried.

If you are not married in the church, you were never married. However, if the state married you then your spouse filed for divorce then you are divorced in the eyes of the state. If that person marries someone else and is not catholic, it seems there is a rule not to pursue them anymore, although the new marriage (by the state) changes their tax filing status to married, or if they choose to file as single I think they may. Although they aren’t “really” married, trying to get the original spouses into a church to finish what they started is highly illegal and could get the groom or bride charged with harassment or stalking (even if the person believes it is Gods will to correct the first dissolution of a state marriage).

I’m the guy who’s wife didn’t convert and she remarried someone else as a non catholic. I had less to do with my marital status than what she had to do with it.
 
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Glennon_P said:
You’re not cooperating or promoting. You are simply recording what they tell you.

Do court reporters cooperate in evil when they transcribe what is said in the courtroom? Of course not. You’re doing the same thing.
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This is a great analogy!
 
True…but they are just recording facts, just like you do. You record the fact that there was a marriage, you don’t endorse or condone its validity. You’re just saying X happened, not that I approve of X.

Really…take it easy on yourself, you aren’t doing anything wrong.
 
Angel it doesn’t matter, that was just an example.

This is scruples, you need to stop posting and talk to your pastor.
 
I felt unease having to update my marital status for tax reasons when I went through marriage troubles and had to have divorce recorded rather than Separated .
In your heart you know it’s not right,but you go by the law of the land.I don’t believe that’s scruples,but I do believe God understands.
 
I think you might need a slight correction… I’ve been led to understand that if two baptised Christians are married in another denomination then they are considered validly married according to the Catholic Church…
 
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My ex married an atheist through the justice and the peace. Here’s an interesting fact, Mormons/LDS call themselves Christians but the Catholic Church does not consider them Christians. Now what if my non denominational ex wife married in the mormon temple?
 
Render unto Caesar…

Sure, the State doesn’t align totally with catholic values. Sure, they’re calling things marriage that aren’t. You’re not saying something is a valid marriage. You’re recording the secular marriage status of people, which has nothing to do with their true, religious marriage status.
 
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