Defining marriage

[Viking]

Regarding the defintion of marriage, that's the debate that should have been held prior to all the boring talk about gay marriage. With a proper definition (including purpose), debates over who can and cannot marry, be it homosexuals, polygamists, age limits and so fort, would be largely superfluous (or they would at least drastically change scope). There's also the question whether marriage should be a legal matter at all, leaving that debate (over definition) to only those particularly interested (if two people are going to share property, then they can sign general legal contracts on the matter instead).

Now, these are the really interesting debates, yet no one seems to be having them. Now I guess the reason why, is because the relatively high percentage of homosexuals in the population means that their advocacy groups will be considerably stronger than any other minority, giving the sensation that the marriage issue is one over heterosexuality versus homosexuality. As for the second debate, the legal state of marriage, that's due to cultural conservatism, obviously; but it is nonetheless intimately connected to the other debate: the definition of marriage, and whatever purpose it should have.