to accept that governments didn't 'invent' marriage, any more than they 'invented' the concept of paid work, criminal justice, or food. And yet, these are all things that our government steps in regulate today, so that people are treated fairly and no one is underpaid / locked up without trial / poisoned. The beautiful little process by which this happens in our society is called 'democracy', and its main function is not to make sure we all agree (that's impossible), but to ensure that every human being's basic rights are protected. "Society changes. All the time. And as we change, our ideas about what fair working conditions are, or how people should be tried for murder, change too. The position of master and slave was once held sacred by society (if maybe not New Zealand's specifically), but anyone trying to uphold this honoured tradition today would have a fun time at the Court of Appeal. "Today, the world has pretty much accepted that marriage is more than just a tool for the extension of our species, and does not exclude those who, by choice or otherwise, do not have children. It is a way, for those who choose to use it, of expressing one's absolute devotion to another human being, before each other, and before society. True, it is by no means the only way to do this, and Mr McCoskrie points out, quite correctly, that some same-sex couples take offense at the idea that civil unions are any less