http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/political-potpourri/2012/feb/20/thought-experiment-iran-why-not-try-diplomacy/

Yes, you and your German friend are absolutely right. Truth is anyone will push back when pushed too hard. All politics, foreign and domestic, are games of king-of-the-hill and most kings will push the others too hard and then the game gets really ugly. We have seen this throughout our world’s entire history.

The EU is just one more example of one nation trying to dominate the others through the back door. The questions remaining are; who will become king? Followed by, when will the game turn ugly?

Years ago I researched the history of marriage institution and discovered many things I did not know or understand. The reason I studied this was to determine if my principles would support gay marriages or not. So I went into this with a very open mind.

The purpose of a marriage is simply to extend the families of a man and woman for one more generation. From the proverbial Adam and Eve to each one of us, every one of our ancestors lived long enough to have a child. The primary purpose of the marriage institution is to provide future generations. If everyone decided to be gay, then a hundred years from now there will be no one left in the world.

Governments got involved for many resons but mainly because of money and power. With each family there are inheritances, like birthrights, land, businesses, etc, passing from one generation to the next. And yes, even pedigrees to determine society classes.

But there also came a need for laws to protect certain rights. The so-called sacred vows came about in effort to determine who each child’s father was. This was to guarantee that the husband would always be the father of all his wife’s children. These laws were extrememly important to the women so that no bastard child from her husband would have rights to her family’s wealth. The wedding vows were more than just an oath between two people, it’s a contract with society as well saying, hands off both of them!

Not until recent times has any society considered marriages other than that of a man and woman. Even in the societies where homosexuality was common. Why? Because everyone knows that same sex relationships cannot produce any children. Since marriages are about children, every society used the Simple Fertility Test before granting a license. The formula is: one man mating with one woman equals potential offspring. It’s a simple test costing nothing nor requires any special training to perform.

In fairly recent modern times, came a new idea that marriages should be based on love. But the truth is love and marriage doesn’t go together like a horse and carriage. What is love? It’s an unconditional bond one has for another. You love your parents, grandparents, children, siblings, God, friends, pets, etc. None of these you would ever have sex with. Since the bond is unconditional, even if one doesn’t like something one of these did, he or she will still love them. Even the mother of a serial killer will still love her son.

This romantic attraction we often call love isn’t really love at all. It’s a whole bunch of emotions bundled together, which we all have a hard time putting into words. Whatever it is, it’s not the sole basis for a marriage as everyone will feel this way about many throughout their lives. Bottom line: people don’t marry eveyone they’ve slept with or want to sleep with.

There comes a time when a romantic couple (man and woman) do make a decision to take their relationship another step by getting married and having children. They’ll soon find out the honeymoon will only last a year, if they are lucky. But in due time, most couples will end up in love with each other. Others will get divorced. Seeing how their bond turned out to be conditional after all, they never were in love like they thought they were. Speaking of divorce, failure to produce offspring is legal grounds for divorce in most societies and religions, usually after five years of marriage.

To encourage people to do “the right thing” governments and religions do offer benefits as well as punishments for those who don’t. Today, we have many people who want benefits without earning them, which is the case for those wanting to marry a same-sex friend, a house, a dolphin, etc. Hmm, maybe I shoud marry my cat. I could use the write-offs claiming each of her kittens as a dependent. Not my fault she’s the neighborhood slut.

If someone wants to be gay, that’s certainly their right. I can support that. I can support a lot of things they want. But to change the marriage institution to include fruitless unions with no regards to our society’s future is a clear violation of the institution and the rights of everyone else. Here I have to draw the line.

Marriages are about procreation, not recreation.