From: Gary Wiltshire 

On Sun, 21 May 2000 15:13:57 -0700, Randall Parker  wrote:

>Gregg,
>
>The only justification I can see for state-sponsored marriage is that it
>provides a context for child-raising. We all have an interest in seeing
>kids have two parents IMO. The _vast_ bulk of the requests for gay
>marriage come from people who don't intend to use said institution for
>procreation. ergo it looks like just another state hand-out to me.
.....
Two comments:

1) Should heterosexuals beyond child-rearing age be allowed to marry?

2) I'd rather get the government OUT of marriage altogether.  Once upon a
time marriage was a matter between the spouses-to-be and whatever religion
they subscribed to.  Many, many pioneers went out west and considered
themselves married when no clergy was available or relevent.  I'd rather
see "marriage" handled by legal contracts, wills,
powers-of-attorney, etc.

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