Nice post, Tim.

I'm having a little private bet with myself how quickly it will attract the "MIUAUG" lecture.

The one that says "if you don't follow the same rules as I do, you must be making it up as you go. By definition, this means that it is only a short trip from where you now stand to bestiality and paedophilia. Not only will you soon be promoting this as acceptable behaviour, you will probably also want to make it compulsory."

There you go, Boaz, I saved you the effort.

What no-one has mentioned is that any government support, of any kind, for any relationship between two people, is thoroughly artificial, and highly anachronistic.

There is very little, apart from the soggy handkerchiefs, that separates a "wedding" from a civil contract, entered into by consenting adults, designed to normalise a post-relationship existence for each, whether pre- or post-mortem.

All the handouts, subsidies and other perquisites that attend the state of married life are totally redundant, and serve only to further blur the lines between state and church. They should all be removed, and a level playing field reinstated for all citizens, financially at least.

It can then be up to the individual conscience whether they feel happier being "blessed" by their church, or simply register a contract form that has legal status over their affairs, joint and several.

For those claiming the religious moral high ground as a reason for 'gay bashing' - aren't all equal under God's eyes? If so, don't all deserve the same treatment and rights within a humane society? I'd like to think that we have progressed from the time of Moses and the bible since it was written more than 2000 years ago. If you really believe in all that this book says and nothing else, then one would assume you still live in a world without any of the mod cons that progress and intellect now afford us. With such progress being made in every other aspect of life, why not in the equality of all men and women, regardless of their religious, sexual, political or other preferences.