Mirriam Webster - the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law

Cambridge International - a legally accepted relationship between a woman and a man in which they live as husband and wife, or the official ceremony which results in this

American Heritage - The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife

Dictionary.com - The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife.

Columbia - socially sanctioned union that reproduces the family.

I could go on but to continue would simply be redundant.

As I stated earlier marriage, in one form or another, has existed since we walked out of the jungle..and perhaps even before that. It has always been an arrangement between a man and a woman...or women... The blessing of a religious figure really didn't become popular until the Roman Catholic church had become a major player in the social construct.

If you accept evolution as "fact" then marriage was going on for a very long time before Christianity came into being...and even Judiasm for that matter.

Face it, marriage is a social construct that was developed in order to create the long term relationship that is necessary for human child rearing....if there were no need to assure such a relationship thereby giving continuity to the generations, then there would be no need for marriage...The only reason we encouraged people to stay together was to see to the raising of children...and the only way to cement the relationship was to give it a legal standing...even in the most primitive culture...marriage has a legal standing and is supported by the community.

In most cultures, if the female failed to produce young, the relationship could be terminated quite easily...

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