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How Do You Define Marriage? - Page 2

I agree with the above poster who says that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. This is what societies around the world recognize as a marriage. It is meant to provide stability for the raising of children.
Same sex unions are blessed by some dioceses in my church but not by others.

As to Adam and Eve being the first marriage, I have a question. If they were the first two people, who conducted their marriage? What is even more puzzling is where did their sons find wives if their parents were the first 2 people on earth?
There must have been more people around who were not mentioned in the bible.

Getting back to the discussion question, in Canada, it is possible to have a civil union between 2 adults, but I believe that a marriage can only take place in a church/temple/place of worship as it is a religious ceremony.

I think that people get a civil union and marriage confused and this is causing problems between different groups in North American society.

Marriage Define You How

Just a brief follow-up here, which I found interesting when I became aware of it.

There are a few places even in third-world countries where marriage is a practical legal consideration first and foremost, that allows same-sex marriage and all the rights that go with it. One documentary piece I saw and read more about, included a widow having too much stuff to do after her husband died, and no family to help out, so she asked a younger lady, somewhat less social than most people in the village, who had been abused by her previous husband, and provided the parents with a dowry and typical traditional preamble. The women said that there was good natured teasing by various people in the village and family and friends but it was not exceptionally uncommon and there was no specific opposition to such a setup, and in fact it could be considered a very shrewd and practical decision which helped both the widow and the younger lady, given the relative power legal marriage held in this society. And it was a "normal" marriage, not a "separate but equal civil union", recognized and official, legal and binding, attended by family and friends.

The young lady moved in and began helping care for thing in the house/hut, livestock, laundry and widow's few remaining children, who jokingly called the new lady "Dada" but usually just "Second Mama". Any children borne by the younger lady (which was not unusual to find a willing male in the village for such a favor) would actually be considered children of the widow's lineage, for the male role, and inheritance and ownership of "estate" would proceed through her just as it would for any other husband in a marriage, the younger lady inheriting the home and widow's children if she died. This marriage allowed the young lady to eventually have children and a stable home life without an abusive husband, getting experience being a wife and caretaker of both property and children, before her own pregnancy and if she later got a divorce and moved back out in the future. If I'm recalling right, unless it was a different "couple"'s story I'm remembering, the widow was considering taking a second wife because she was given additional livestock and property by family and friends, and was concerned even she and her wife would not be able to maintain all of it.

The male version seems a little more iffy, as men can choose somewhat younger men in the village and more or less have a similar setup as the women, but if I recall, once the younger partner reaches 25, he either may, or is required to, leave the marriage, I can't remember which, and the older partner is free to marry again. This seems less a practical everyday foundation than female marriage but the reports did not go into much detail about it.

Of any possible intimate activity, same-sex couples either declined to comment or just casually denied it, along the lines of, "Oh.. No, no, we are very good friends."

To me, this, at least the female side, shows a very independent, pragmatic framework of reasoning and understanding of law, finance, resources and social issues, including the need for children to have a stable home life, and being able to resolve a number of issues, such as the older partner being without help to care for things and earn sufficient money, no second parental role, the younger woman in abusive relationship, inexperienced in typical "wifely" caretaking and child-rearing responsibilities, finally having a financially stable life away from her family, etc. While I'm sure it wasn't a Christian marriage (can't remember which African country this particular example is from), it seemed to cover the important parts of life in society there, including raising children.

How Do You Define Marriage? Beliefs Religious General

Name: Yeniseri

Comments: Marriage today is only seen only as a legal institution.
Marriage is a union of 2 homo sapiens, 2 people in this modern world and if one does not wat to associate with it (I.e. The 2 men or 2 women) then run as far away as possible. I may be aghast at 2 men being married but so what, it is my problem. 2 women are fine, interestingly enough!

The Bible tells us to stay away from pagan rituals but we do the Halloween, Christmas thing and we see no problem with that! I wonder why?

Page 2 Marriage Define You How

Off topic remarks not related to this Thread have been moved to here: Source 7

Marriage Define You How

Interesting JPatt,
I studied anthropology at university and I never heard of any societies where married other women. Do you know which society in which country practices this?
You've got my curiosity pikked

How Do You Define Marriage?

I'm pretty sure I've read of a couple of other accounts in different countries, but in my previous post, it was all from memory and I may have mixed things up. But the easiest way to find more info, as far as I remember, I think the search was "female husband", which apparently is also the name of a book someone wrote - but still it leads to other resources about gay marriage in other cultures, which I found to be very enlightening and surprising, for a number of different reasons, and feel like this is kind of an overlooked bit of historical and cultural documentation that could provide some perspective on the current issue, by examining non-Western societies.

How You Define Marriage - Page 2

The Supreme Court today hears a challenge to the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.

The appeal involves Edith "Edie" Windsor, who was forced to assume an estate tax bill much larger than heterosexual married couples would have to pay after her decades-long same-sex partner died. The federal government did not recognize Windsor's marriage in legal terms, even though her home state of New York did.

The case comes a day after justices heard arguments challenging California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriages. Some 80 minutes of arguments left no clear picture of how things might go.

The justices are expected to rule on the cases by mid-June. Ref. CNN

How You Define Marriage General Religious Beliefs - Page 2

Supreme Court: DOMA is unconstitutional; Prop. 8 does not have nationwide standing

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that legally married same-sex couples should get the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples with its Defense of Marriage Act ruling.

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for same-sex marriage in California by holding that defenders of California's gay marriage ban did not have the right to... Ref. Source 4