If your friend lives in Kansas, was married by a pastor, holds himself and his wife out to be husband and wife, he isn't fornicating and/or "shacking up". On the other hand, if your friend IS living with a woman, having sex with her with no plans to marry each other, or doesn't hold themselves out as a married couple, then I'd agree that they ARE fornicating/shacking up.
Again, not true. Several reasons why common law marriage was well...common...was because of the lack of available clergy, lack of a courthouse and lack of laws against the practice of marriage outside of the official 'paper' marriage, be it through church or state.
One by one, states began to abolish common law marriages because the states found the practice to no longer be necessary, as there was more access to transportation, faster communication, churches, clergy, courthouses, etc.
Common law marriage was the 'norm' in England when the Colonists began to arrive in the US. When the colonists arrived, they came with British laws. While the first marriage license was written in the 1600's here in the US, it would take another 300 years for ALL 50 states to adopt the policy. And as I said in my earlier post, there are still about 8-9 states that STILL allow for common law marriage although they also provide for a licensed marriage.
Funny that you claim that some states recognize common law marriage because of what happens when the common law couple split up.
Meanwhile, people often marry for financial reasons as well. And when the couple applies for a marriage license, the government gets money.
...or what God's word doesn't teach. God didn't teach us that we needed a license to marry. And while 1 Peter 2:17 DOES teach us to follow authority (paraphrasing), in the case of your friend, Kansas proclaims that BOTH formal marriage AND/OR informal marriage are legitimate forms of marriage.
