The Pupose of Marriage
The purpose of marriage has been debated for centuries. It has been called a Business Contract that allows both parties to combine their assets for their mutual benefit, a product of true love where lovers can offer their undying love as a tribute to each other, a way of exacting obedience from dissenters that have sinned against god, and most commonly a convenience that stops constant nagging from significant others and family.

These are all viable social definitions that can vary with different cultures, but in today's global mindset these have only created contention between factions as to what marriage should be. If you want to assign an all encompasing definition to something as far reaching & universal as marriage you need to go back to the reason it was created to begin with (see The Necessity if Marriage). Marriage was created by society as a way to ensure that children would be cared for and not be made the Society's responsibility.

With this in mind we can draw some conclusions as to the nature of marriage and the laws, contracts, and ordinances that can be based on this institution:

The following information will be from the United States viewpoint for the purposes of law, ordinances, etc.

Laws - Before the founding of the United States of America each State was like its own country with their own militia, government, and flag. They realized that individually they could not fight England and decided to give certain rights to a more central government. Among those not given to this central government was the right to define marriage. So it is currently the responsibility of States individually to make laws concerning marriage.

Based on the purpose of marriage above marriage has a few inherrent rights:

1.  Right to Property - All property will be shared in the union to better support the children.
2.  Right to Procreate - This is what the union is for.
3.  Right to Govern - The children are not able to be agents for themselves until they are adults.
4.  Right of Termination - Either party should have the right of terminating the marriage if:
   • The children are not being cared for.
   • There are no more children to care for.
   The missing parent is still required to provide support until they are replaced.
5. Right of Discipline - The parents should have say in how the child is disciplined (within society's limitations).

Laws should dictate the specifics of the rights mentioned above. Laws should include provisions for children born out of wedlock; children unproperly cared for which would be a breach of the marriage contract; persons guilty of continued neglegence (ie. successive children out of wedlock, successive breaches of the marriage contract, etc.); unjustified termination of the marriage contract; discipline not in accordance with societal laws; requirements for supervision. All these laws should be in amendment to marriage law.

Ordinances - Counties and Cities should only be able to create ordinances that dictate the execution of any action based on the laws. Such as what limitations are placed on the actual marriage ceremony, or what the local authorities are allowed to do when children are not properly taken care of.

Other - To encourage proper marriages the government should offer education on the purpose of marriage, how best to ensure that a marriage will be successful, how to ensure that children become productive adults, and possibly incentives to promote longevity of marriage.

Go to the next section about the Definition of Marriage.