Rusty:

Not everyone that marries has intent. Many marry to abuse the legal aspects of being married. Some marry for comfort or fear of lonliness. Some marry to please relatives. There are many reasons which can make a mockery of the word marriage and any conditions based upon it.

"next-of-kin" need not be kin. It could be any adult that you appoint to care for your affairs or to take over your property.

Not up to us Phanto. Nor should it be. Couples confer this status on each other. "next-of-kin" is exactly what a marriage appoints: your chosen NOK, with priority over all previous, no guarantee of children, no enforceable fidelity, just the person you want with you.

So long as marriage has this particular privilege, people will want it, no matter how much we might think they ought not.

//Be specific with your critisms or stay silent.//

OK.

* Clearly not everything in the bible sets a good moral example.

Hmm, that is a bit vague - but Jesus, it's a big book. God ethnically cleansing Egyptians and their innocent cattle? Not OK. Jesus staying the hand of men who would stone a woman for adultery, inviting them to cast the first stone if they are without sin? Definitely OK.

* WTF did God have against Egyptian cattle anyway?

Christ, doesn't this one speak for itself? What sort of weird god takes it out on cows for heaven's sake? They don't have agency. Why the cattle? I'm not angry, I'm just bemused. What makes me irritable is that no Christian apologist will even attempt an answer.

* It's always entertaining to see how staunchly some Christians support anything in the Bible that can be interpreted as being anti-homosexual, whilst also being so completely relaxed about people working on Saturdays.

It's a point about hypocrisy: the bible is quite unequivocal that people who work on the Sabbath (whichever day you hold as sabbath) should be put to death, but it never happens. When you ask Christians why, they say it's because it's Old Testament. When you point out that the homophobic bits in the bible are Old Testament, they turn around quote Matthew 5:18. It gets tiresome.

//Don't fabricate a lie to make a point if you have real examples to go off of. If you don't have real examples don't lie then either.//

No, those were all real quotes, from the real King James Version of the bible. Has anybody ever told you that you're a rubbish Christian?

Dear Toni Lavis,

I am tempted to get a "This Guy Rocks"
t-shirt for you.

'cause you certainly do!

Rusty:

No its not up to us but it should be up to the government if they are the ones who have decided that the particular privilege be given to married couples. They should make sure that the couples really are married or else find some other criteria for deciding who should have the privilege.

Luv the pathetic fist waving against the living God. You would think the mockers would be smart enough to see who always wins in the end. And its not their pathetic dummy spits.