It is noteworthy that all civilizations to the best of my knowledge do, and did, have marriage as a basis of society. This points to a deep need for a formal recognition.

Marriage is not worth it any more. At the whimsy of another, without fault, most of ones assets, future earnings and children can be ripped away. It's like painting a target on your back.

I hate it when people make blanket claims about whole groups of people, without exception.

Michael Thompson doesn't make any claim of training it psychology so his definition of neurosis is questionable.

This article seems like a lot of opinionated blah, blah, blah to basically say "I think everyone who get's married is neurotic but those who just live together are sane." So what?

When we announced that we were going to be married, some people did ask us why we felt the "need" to get married. I explained that we did not at all feel any "need" to get married, but that we had chosen to do so. This is a second marriage for both of us (one widowed, one divorced) and we made a conscious decision to marry rather than live together for two main reasons. One is that marriage is a publicly recorded event and, having spent many years on my family history, I understand the value of events, such as births, marriages and deaths, being publicly recorded. Having our relationship made public in this way was a message to the world (and to our families) that we were making a formal commitment to each other. Marriage is also a legal contract and, as we both have children from our previous marriages, it was important to us to clarify where everyone stood with regard to assets and inheritance. This is more easily achieved through marriage and the making of wills (another legal commitment) than in any other way. We chose (there was no question of "feeling the need" and certainly no pressure from anyone else) to get married so that our relationship would be both public and legal.

What rot! Another load of amoral nonsense to wreck society.

Michael shows a common ignorance of the Author of marriage.