re: #178 lostlakehiker

Please grant, explicitly, that polygamy is different. Argue your case with logic that does not include by its very broadness a tacit insistence on the legitimacy of polygamy.

The overwhelming government interest in marriage, the reason the law recognizes it at all instead of just leaving it as a religious ritual, is that it provides a clear chain of responsibility.

Who speaks for you when you’re unconscious? Who gets your stuff if you die without a will? Who’s responsible for your debts if you skip out on them? How are doctors and bankers and tax collectors and other people who’ve never even met you supposed to know who to turn to as an acceptable surrogate when they can’t speak to you directly? Who is your chosen next-of-kin?

A pairbond answers all these questions. A triad just makes it more confusing, and places a huge investigative burden on people who really have better things to do with their time.