[Devil_Anse]

Bottom line: SOMEBODY in that society was engaging in normal sexual relations, or there wouldn't have been any wet nurses, etc.--there wouldn't have been any population at all.

There are all kinds of reasons why marriage includes a pledge of fidelity to the person you marry. IMO, the number one reason it evolved that way was to prevent a man from unknowingly having the expense (not just monetary expense) of rearing another man's biological offspring. It's only fair that a person should only be obligated to expend effort on behalf of his/her own biological offspring. (I'm not saying there's anything wrong with VOLUNTARILY taking care of another person's biological offspring.)

So fidelity is important to heterosexual marriages. IMO, it is less important to homosexual couplings--and oh, BROTHER, is that evident in their behavior.

So if we call homosexual pairings "marriage", then we do indeed change the nature of marriage, making fidelity less important. I mean, who cares if homos cheat on each other?

And without at least a serious attempt at fidelity, what the hell reason is there for getting married in the first place?

[blam]

"And without at least a serious attempt at fidelity, what the hell reason is there for getting married in the first place?"

Yup. With more and more people accepting that it is the responsibility of the state to care for their 'chilrun', marriage is obsolete, huh?