Marriage is Outdated

From the Pro's arguments, it sounds a lot like she is speaking out of first person experience and is trying to ridicule how some people take marriage too seriously and that is is rather archaic in modern society. However there are other aspects of marriage that consider it useful. 1) Marriage is currently the only form of commitment that is recognized by the US government and by nations around the world. 2) Marriage is a ceremony where people celebrate the official commitment of love between two people. 3) Marriage can be used to symbolize equality in a society 4) Marriage is used not just to symbolize commitment, but also to symbolize loyalty - 1 - Marriage is the term used by the government, by every government, to show how two people have formally made an agreement to share ones assets, debts, land, property, etc. In its strictest definition marriage could be argued as not outdated since the government even today recognizes only marriage as a bond between two people (the government doesnt care if your close friends, friends with benefits, bff's, etc) but the government does care if you are married or not. Evidence for this? Being married does influence the amount of income taxes you pay to the government which makes it very relevant to society - 2 - Marriage is more than just a relationship status you put on facebook, marriage is the formal tradition where two people become one couple in a relationship that is celebrated through bridal parties, bachelor parties, family traditions, etc. That may sound pointless but what Im getting at is that marriage is a celebration where ones friends all gather and celebrate one friend tying the know with somebody else til death, or divorce, do them part. Marriage has its own industry (wedding outfit manufacturers, wedding stores, stores that sell men's tuxedos, etc) so it still plays a role on impacting the economy through the sheer industrial output that has spawned because of weddings - 3 - This is my strongest point bout how marriage is not outdated. Outdated is defined as something that is antiquated or obsolete, the definition of obsolete being something that is no longer in use to do something. I invite voters to look at gay rights here in the United States, they have the right to vote, right to free speech, right to protest, right to an attorney, however there is one right that they value above all else that they are denied in society, the right to marry. 20 years ago the US did not recognize any form of Civil Union between gays or lesbians, but now states have been granting gays and lesbians the right to marry which helps symbolize their equality to citizens in this country which 20 years ago considered them taboo or genetically inferior. Marriage to gays represents the ultimate form of equality to them, and to claim that marriage is outdated while an entire faction of people here in the US are using marriage as the biggest tool to fight for equality in this nation after years of being oppressed against holds no water. - 4 - Now on the more personal level, marriage not only symbolizes commitment, but it also symbolizes loyalty. If someone approaches a couple and they are married, that tells the person that those two have declared to the world not only that they have committed to each other, but that they will not even consider having sexual relations with anyone else ever. If that same person now walks up to a couple who are only in a relationship, that tells the person that the two do love each other very much and care about each other a lot, but have not decided to commit to each other for the rest of their lives. Whats the difference? Marriage is the final level of commitment that two people could possibly make. It may not mean much to the people who are in the marriage but for everyone else in the world it symbolizes how two people have two people have declared their love to one another forever, no other form of commitment symbolizes that. As for the Pro though, you dont need marriage for happiness, you dont need it to prove something that in your heart you already know is true, and most importantly, not committing to marriage does not mean you dont love him or want to be his true love. I sympathize for you and I respect how you dont want to get married but that you love your counterpart just as much as any married couple loves each other. However that isnt an argument for why marriage is outdated, its an argument for why marriage could be considered a poor reflection of a relationship status....