Democracy? More like a theocratic tyranny.

39 parliament members of the Israeli Knesset voted Civil marriage off today, with only 11 voting in favor of it (making it only 50 of 120 MK attending the voting in total), meaning the Israeli government still doesn't allow people to marry outside of their religious association, regardless of their beliefs or sexual orientation. This is a dark day for a country that prides itself as the "only democracy in the Middle East".

That makes Israel one of the few countries in the world that only allows marriage of a Jewish woman to a Jewish man, a Muslim woman to a Muslim man, and a Christian woman to a Christian man, through their respective religious institutes only.

Israel will only register and acknowledge civil marriage if they were performed outside of Israel in any number of countries that allows civil marriage, but will not allow them to be performed in Israel due to religious and financial motives.

The rabbinate institute is a business, making a staggering amount of money annually through performing marriage between Jews and Jews, according to the Ultra Orthodox method alone, while humiliating and discriminating those who were born outside of marriage (bastards), those whose family names belong with different groups, and those whose Judaism "must" be questioned by said institute.

I'm utterly disgusted by the actions of my government today, all the more reason why there must be a separation of church and state as soon as possible in Israel.