The religious bigots march onward in their futile fight against gay marriage (Page 37)

Zanjan: Society hasn't done away with marriage contracts - that is, private immigration deals which include quick divorce, prenuptial agreements, condition of children. Neither has it done away with dowries; sometimes, they just use another word of it.

pyroclastic flo: yep, Dave. in some cultures both young people were/are enslaved to their parents' ambitions. their lives arranged for them, forced into marriage as a consolidation of property and prestige. no Love required by any of those involved. not the parents for their children nor the children for each other. what misery.

davesdatahut: Zanjan, yes, some marriages in Western cultures are undertaken with contracts, usually when there is a ton of money brought in my one partner or both. But most aren't. And for good reason, as marriage should be a voluntary, love-based arrangement free from legal riders that turn it into more of a business contract.
It is different in some of the more backward, religion-enslaved cultures, that still seem to think, in the modern world, that arranged marriages are better. i say good luck with that. While it served a good purpose many years ago, to protect and preserve insular communities that had good reason to be insular, it's now little more than a xenophobic attempt to stop junior from marrying out of the faith or out of the ethnic background.

Zanjan: They're a differentiate people than you. They're able to understand the meaning of obedience, be respectful and appreciate the collective wisdom of their elders so, they don't want your kind of life.

pyroclastic flo: i wouldn't know what kind of life some distant wistful stranger may want, neither do you and sadly, in an enslavement culture wherein children are objects owned by their parents, neither does the distant wistful stranger. i mean, if your parents raise you just to be their indentured servant, a bargaining tool for increased wealth and status, what kind of life could be dreamed of, let alone hoped for?

Zanjan: " if your parents raise you just to be their indentured servant"

My mother did because most mothers did. However, I put a stop to that when I was 21 because of her disgusting behavior - she was a lying, theiving traitor. I didn't want that kind of crap in my family life and I told her so. She was old enough to know better.

If I did want to deal with that, my servitude would have continued as I believe we owe some gratitude and support to our parents as they age, right up until they die. That's what family is all about. However, when one stabs the other in the back, it's pretty clear they don't want that party to be around. If one refuses to be a part of the family and act like it, then the family is no longer obliged to include them as a member.

This is how the breakdown of the nuclear family began - people forgot how to be kind and loving. They'd forgotten for so long, they no longer knew. They didnt' know how to get along with each other; that's why you don't see the generations living together anymore.