British Lawmakers Approve Gay Marriage

[Carousal]

[quote='Erthona' pid='157889' dateline='1395173485']
Actually none of those things are about the origin marriage. Marriage was to establish a stable union, in terms of support, and to see that the inheritance was passed down to the true offspring, thus the extremes that were gone to to show the girl was still a virgin, so the man would know the child was his offspring. However I think the sticking point is that heterosexual married couples don't want to have this discussion with their 7 year old daughter. Generally when people feel this strongly about a subject it has a strong personal component, and has little to do with philosophy or religion. The idea of gay marriage makes people uncomfortable, and making an argument about civil rights will have little effect. However a generation from now all of this will be a moot point.

Dale

One point on the origins of marriage you overlooked was Once women married, their property rights were governed by English common law, which required that the property women took into a marriage, or acquired subsequently, be legally absorbed by their husbands.
George Washington benefited from that inclusion to the marriage vows to the tune of eighty-four slaves as well as land and property.

Ah for the good old days.