Posted on 06/13/2008 10:10:51 AM PDT by forkinsocket
IN THE AMERICAN hierarchy of relationships, friendship often seems distinctly second-class. We obsess about the "work-family balance," but the leisurely conversation with an old friend is a quick casualty when it conflicts with either one. Just in the last generation, the number of real confidants we have outside the family has dropped substantially, according to one 2006 study.
more stories like thisNow, a number of scholars are seeking to shore up friendship in a surprising way: by granting it legal recognition. Some of the rights and privileges restricted to family, they argue, should be given to friends. These could be invoked on a case-by-case basis - eligibility to take time off to care for a sick friend under an equivalent of the Family and Medical Leave Act, for example. Or they could take the form of an official legal arrangement between two friends, designating a bundle of mutual rights and privileges - literally "friends with benefits," as Laura Rosenbury, a law professor at Washington University, puts it. One scholar even suggests giving friends standing in the tax code, allowing taxpayers to write off certain "friend expenditures."
Such changes, proponents say, could contribute to a shift in how our society values personal relationships. In part, they say, the point is to acknowledge that society has already changed: as more people are living outside of marriage, friendships have become the primary relationships on which many Americans rely. But a broader aim is to recognize the universal social and psychological benefits of friendship, which rival those of other relationships, notably marriage, that receive active state support. New laws could elevate friendship's status, recasting it as an essential part of our lives, rather than a luxury often sacrificed to other priorities.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
And here we go...marry your same sex partner, marry your friend, marry your daughter, marry your dog, marry your blow-up doll....
Is this a new strategical approach by the queer community?
Being a Dr Suess fan I think - Thing 1 and Thing 2
Someone was asking the other day if this means you could marry you child and avoid inheritance taxes.
Eventually I hope we’ll wake up and shove the government out of the business of recognizing ANY kind of relationships between mentally competent adults. People can enter into any kind of contract they want to, WITH EACH OTHER. And if they belong to a religious group, they may freely choose to delegate the determination of the terms of their contract to their religious authority (ecclesiastical scriptural, direct revelation, whatever they believe in). Keep the d*%! government out of it. Its role should be limited to judicial enforcement of legal contracts freely entered into by mentally competent adult citizens. It has no business drafting and peddling pre-fab contracts that suit ITS purposes. Not for men “marrying” one woman, not for men “marrying” 10 women, not for men “marrying” men, not for women “marrying” cats, not for friends “friending” friends. FREE citizens write their OWN contracts.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Under what theory of government does engineering this shift in how our society values personal relationships warrant legitimate political, let alone legislative, attention and action?
Who ARE these people?
That is insane
That is a problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.