Posted as a reply here to not further contaminate another thread
Way off topic, but not even sure there is really any point to "marriage" anymore.
You must be one of dem dare heterosexual haters ( I mean you are a heterosexual who hates.... not a person who hates heterosexuals)....
Sorry, I just could not resist.
Brian
No, I don't hate (disclaimer- nor have I ever been married). Just an observation. Based on....
I just see almost every marriage fail. And with each generation it seems to get more prevalent. Then it seems a majority of people think that having children outside of marriage is just fine because they are "not ready for marriage" or "marriage is too much commitment"
? (Yet children are not?). I see couples that live together for 20+ years but never marry. I see more and more people who marry that never have children, keep separate bank accounts, register everything in separate names, file taxes separately, etc. Prenuptial agreements to make sure the finances are simpler when the more-certain-than-not divorce comes. More women who don't want to take their husband's last names. Others use ridiculously complex compound names (certainly nothing new, but seemingly more popular). I even see CHILDREN with compound last names (yeah, that makes sense- then when the children get married, their children can have FOUR last names?). Now marriage is redefined as not just man-woman, but also man-man or woman-woman. Maybe threesomes are next? Theoretically, you can gain all (or almost all) the same legal protections and functions of marriage without marriage through medical and financial powers of attorney, joint ownerships, wills, and other forms. Divorces are easier and easier, faster and simpler. Theoretically/fairly, married people shouldn't have any more rights or privileges compared people who don't- so that is another factor. Then there are the people that get married when they shouldn't or get and then stay married for the wrong reasons when things are long gone.
Like I said, I don't even see the point anymore. Call me jaded! And yes, of course, my parents were divorced (at my age 6). And my mother married and divorced twice more after that.
Maybe marriage is obsolete?