Sex

[Cecilie1200]

From the responses so far, it would seem that most do not equate marriage with sex, even though we assume this when people get married.

So why should government discriminate against polygamy then? In fact, if it has nothing to do with sex, you could say that we are all married in a way since we now have the responsibility to pay certain fees and undertake certain responsibilities etc. for each other in government.

Sex is a generally expected part of most marriages, but it is not the primary purpose, and in some cases, is not a factor at all.

When Stephen Hawking got married, for example, I'd be willing to bet neither he nor his wife thought it was going to have anything to do with knocking boots.

It used to be quite common, and still isn't exactly uncommon, for gay men to marry women, for a number of reasons that didn't involve sex, particularly if the woman KNEW he was gay. In the eyes of the government, they were just as married as anyone else.

Older people, with their health problems, often stop having a sexual relationship, but remain just as married in the eyes of the government. They are not required to report to ANY government agency when their sexual relationship cease, because no one cares.

You're too fixated on sex, chum.

 

[Cecilie1200]

From the responses so far, it would seem that most do not equate marriage with sex, even though we assume this when people get married.

So why should government discriminate against polygamy then? In fact, if it has nothing to do with sex, you could say that we are all married in a way since we now have the responsibility to pay certain fees and undertake certain responsibilities etc. for each other in government.

Why is the government involved in marriage at all?

Same reason it gets involved in whether or not you buy a house: because doing so benefits society, and NOT doing so does not benefit society.

 

[auditor0007]

You're beginning with the faulty assumption that sex is the only reason people get married, that it's little more than prostitution by contract.

That's a rather narrow and dim view of marriage. In spite of the fact that it is that for too many people (see: divorce rate), that doesn't negate the fact that marriage is much, much more than just a deal for lifetime sex.

For men it is a lifetime contract for sex and maybe to have children. For women it is a romantic fantasy which rarely lives up to their ideal.

For some this may actually be true, but those are the marriages that end up in divorce. My first marriage could have been characterized in such a way; that's why it ended in divorce. My second marriage was to my best friend, lover, better half, life partner, and the most special woman to ever cross my path.