IF WE'RE ALLOWED TO KILL ANIMALS FOR FOOD WE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO KILL PEOPLE FOR FOOD!!!!! slippery slope.
look, the specific quality that makes a society a society is an agreed upon set of rules regarding acts that are either acceptable or unacceptable to enough of the population to justify the thought process. gay marriage was not legal in the 50s because not enough of the population existed that accepted it to justify the thought process. these days it's a different story, and that's why it's changing now. it's not like 90% of the population is against homosexual unions and these changes are moving ahead anyway. over 50% of americans approve of civil union and almost 35% of the population approves of the idea of gay marriage. the scales tip because enough of the public opinion supports it.
it's not a logic puzzle. you can't go "well if a man can marry a man, why can't a man marry three women and a goat?" it's not about teasing out the logical connections. it's about societal support. societies don't operate strictly on cold logical conclusions. our system of laws is a rather emotional thing. all this navel gazing about the justification of incest is silly until enough of the population sees the justification of the thought process and the wheels of change start rolling in that direction.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skie
It's obvious marriage means less in society today than it did 10 years ago, let alone 20 or 30 years ago.
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is it obvious? or is that the conclusion you've drawn based on your pre-existing bias? consider that marriage as an institution is no more healthy today than it was 50 years ago, but the barriers to divorce and re-marriage have lowered significantly. 50 years ago if your husband punched you in the eye, you stuck around until death do you part. if your wife was a raging alcoholic you mixed her drinks and helped her to bed (thank you to my grandparents for setting that example). adultery is not an invention of the 20th century. what's an invention of the 20th century is rights for women who otherwise would have had no recourse in miserable or unhealthy marriages.