Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuje
If it were about reproduction, you would have to ban marriage for the sterile. What if one person in a marriage is sterile? You are robbing our society of a fertile person. You can't have that!! You'd also have to put restrictions on birth control, ban vasectomies, etc. These things would have to be written into the laws if reproduction was the issue.
Of course, it's not, so no such rules are in place. The only thing left is disagreeing with the combination of genitals in a particular marriage. I think you can see how ridiculous it sounds to deny someone the right to marriage based on that.
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The purpose of government involvement in marrage was to protect the "weaker" sex. It began when there was few work opportunities outside of the home for women and little to no social saftey net. There was also little to no birth control and the natural consequences of the husband/wife relationship was often children. The health issues and the responsibility that comes with children made mothers even more vulnerable and needful.
By getting married a man was saying he was responsible for his bride and any future children they might have. This was basically the same thing that was already being vowed within the various religious cerimonies. When the government got involved they just provided legal documentation.
Over time governments have added to that legal protection some tax and social benefits. Men and women living together in committed sexual relationships has always been seen as benefitial to society. Society therefore has wanted to encourage such relationship or at the very least contribute to their well being.
It is not a right to get married. Rights don't require licences. Rights don't require others to do something for you. That is an entitlement: not a right.
Rights such as freedom of speech or the right to bare arms is something you chose to exercise yourself. Because it is your right others and specifically the government can't stop you.
On a side note, I know gun ownership isn't a right in Canada. It like marriage is licenced.
I don't care to count the number of times this chicken guy and TT has been accused in this thread of wanting to take away homosexually rights. Well you can't take away something nobody has. There is no constitutional clause that I've heard of that makes marriage a right for anybody. There is certainly no scripture that declares it a God given right.
Marriage is an entitlement provided by every State and is given to everyone who meets that States criteria. All States require it to be a relationship between two people. Most States have rules that exclude near relatives from getting a marriage licence. Most States have rules that limit marriage to two people of the opposite sex. States have rules that limits the applicants to being over a certain age. There are probably more limitations I'm not thinking about. The point is that like a tax exemption or credit States and the Fed have a right to set paramiters on an entitlement. They have been doing that since government was begun.