The Institution of Marriage 2 Inch Round Button

The United States of America is a civil society wherein citizen rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have been, as outlined in our Declaration of Independence, endowed by our Creator - not by government. Defined as the legal union of one man and one woman as husband and wife, marriage as an institution also has structure and rules which our culture has embraced over the millennia. These rules preclude same-sex marriage, polygamy, multi-partner arrangements, incestual relationships (parent to offspring, sibling to sibling), underage marriage and all forms of beastiality. To ascribe new 'rights' to any given group clamouring for recognition or a sense of legitimacy, is to engage in a slippery slope of petition for such from every other group claiming that they too have a 'right' to be formally married. No plausible enhancement to society as a whole would be served by the bastardization of the institution of marriage.