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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 7/15/2012 8:03 PM, Donovan Arnold
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:1342407809.94556.YahooMailNeo@web121803.mail.ne1.yahoo.com"
type="cite">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255,
255); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="RIGHT: auto"><span style="RIGHT: auto">Ken writes,</span>
<br>
</div>
<div style="RIGHT: auto">"Marriage has to do with, among other
things, with whether people have social permission to
procreate. Same-sex marriage implies such permission is not
granted to individuals within that relationship."</div>
<div style="RIGHT: auto"> </div>
<div style="RIGHT: auto"> </div>
<div style="RIGHT: auto">No it doesn't. People in same sex <span
style="RIGHT: auto" id="misspell-0"><span>marriage</span></span>
have children, and are allowed to have children.</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
Two people of the same sex physically cannot procreate. In order for
such a couple to have children, assistance of a person outside of
the marriage is required. Sexual relations by married persons with
someone other than a spouse is adultery, so by legal definition,
same-sex couples do not have permission to procreate within the
standard definition of marital fidelity, which presumes opposite-sex
couples for reproductive purposes.<br>
<br>
Notwithstanding the truth of the nitpicking legalese, the fact of
the matter is that some same-sex couples have legitimate children
from various sources. Some were adopted, some came to a marriage
from one spouse's previous relationship. Others were conceived from
sperm donors, and yet others the old-fashioned way with previously
arranged permission of both spouses to one another.<br>
<br>
The point is that special procreative permissions are needed by
same-sex couples that are not needed by opposite-sex couples to
avoid adulterous entanglements. Same-sex spouses may be happy to
grant such permissions, but a highly overpopulated society working
to curb population growth may not agree by default. Whether or not
that is fair, equitable, and just vis-à-vis heterosexual couples is
an ongoing discussion topic.<br>
<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:1342407809.94556.YahooMailNeo@web121803.mail.ne1.yahoo.com"
type="cite">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255,
255); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="RIGHT: auto">And <span style="RIGHT: auto"
id="misspell-1"><span>finishes</span></span> with,</div>
<div style="RIGHT: auto"> </div>
<div style="RIGHT: auto">"How romantic. And in many cases, how
unrealistic. Over the centuries marriage has more often been
an arrangement implementing social practicalities rather than
love. Given the intractable societal burdens of
overpopulation, societal concerns may well trump personal
preferences for multiple reasons -- food sharing, housing
sharing, and many facets of more efficient societal use of
many limited resources."</div>
<div style="RIGHT: auto"> </div>
<[snip]><br>
<div style="RIGHT: auto"> </div>
<div style="right: auto;"><span style="RIGHT: auto"
id="misspell-3"><span style="RIGHT: auto">Marriage</span></span>
should be a statement that two people want to be together, for
no other reason than they want to be, not because of social
engineering.</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
Some of the oldest literature in any human canon deals with marriage
mores and social responses to them. For example, in the Western
canon, the Greek Odyssey considers the relationship between the
returning King Odysseus and his wife Penelope. The nature of the
relationships between men and women, legally, socially, and
otherwise, have changed since those days and conditions, and likely
will continue to change as humanity faces, or refuses to face,
continuing changes in our physical and social environments. To the
extent these messages encourage intelligent open-mindedness while
searching for workable contemporary solutions, they may have some
value.<br>
<br>
<br>
Ken<br>
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