Freethought Forum - View Single Post - Benefits, rights, and privileges of marriage?

Carnivale Ed · 11-12-2005, 04:30 PM

I agree with Dragar. The problem I think you're having, LadyShea, is that, despite some assertions to the contrary, we, as a society, don't consider a romantic/married relationship to be exactly the same as other types of interaction. We presume they're more significant, a reasonable presumption given the nature of the relationship, and that presumption can't simply be legislated away. Marriage, and adoption, are basically the only ways we have of 'choosing' our family. It is the 'standard', if you will, that everything else is measured by.

If you really want to confer all the rights of a spouse on a non-spouse, I think you could probably already do so (or nearly), you just have to go to the trouble of doing it. The presumption of a spouse (and family in general) being of primary importance to a person, though, just makes good sense, especially from a legal standpoint. It's reasonable to think that these are the people that have your best interests at heart, the people you most care about.

I'm not sure about your claims of discrimination. What, exactly? Not recognising homosexual realtionships I get, thus we have a huge push for gay marriage at the moment, but even this push is based on the presumption that a romantic relationship is of primary importance to a person. Why should society assume that people want to confer rights on others, outside their family, when no romantic relationship exists?

11-12-2005, 04:30 PM	#22
Carnivale Ed Clown Laureate Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: MCCXCI	Re: Benefits, rights, and privileges of marriage? I agree with Dragar. The problem I think you're having, LadyShea, is that, despite some assertions to the contrary, we, as a society, don't consider a romantic/married relationship to be exactly the same as other types of interaction. We presume they're more significant, a reasonable presumption given the nature of the relationship, and that presumption can't simply be legislated away. Marriage, and adoption, are basically the only ways we have of 'choosing' our family. It is the 'standard', if you will, that everything else is measured by. If you really want to confer all the rights of a spouse on a non-spouse, I think you could probably already do so (or nearly), you just have to go to the trouble of doing it. The presumption of a spouse (and family in general) being of primary importance to a person, though, just makes good sense, especially from a legal standpoint. It's reasonable to think that these are the people that have your best interests at heart, the people you most care about. I'm not sure about your claims of discrimination. What, exactly? Not recognising homosexual realtionships I get, thus we have a huge push for gay marriage at the moment, but even this push is based on the presumption that a romantic relationship is of primary importance to a person. Why should society assume that people want to confer rights on others, outside their family, when no romantic relationship exists?