Dear Mary...

Lo, many moons past, on Tue, 16 Mar 2004 16:20:55 GMT, a stranger
called by some "Steven P. McNicoll"
came forth and told this tale in us.military.army


"Douglas Berry" wrote in message
.. .

And you are welcome to try to change them so you can marry sheep.

If they can be changed to permit same-sex marriage they can be changed to
permit human-animal marriage.

Of course, the difference is that humans can clearly indicate that
they understand marriage, and animals can't. You have a slight
problem there.

Of course, that would require a complete change of the laws on consent
and contracts.

Why?

Because contract law depends on both parties being competent to
understand the implications of the agreement. This is why we don;t
allow 12 year olds to lease Porches, or cats to inherit estates. The
are not able to legally perform those actions. In both cases, a
guardian or executor handles the affairs. Were I to leave my vast
fortune (snerk) to my cat (assuming I had one) the court would appoint
a guardian to oversee the trust.

This is the reason why, when I was 17 and wanted to enlist, my
parents, as my guardians, had to sign a form giving me their
permission. Had I waited 7 months, I would have been legally able to
do it myself.

Now, marriage requires that *both parties* express competent consent.
That is, they both have to understand what marriage is, what it
requires, and the depth of commitment it calls for. They have to be
able to make it known, to a judge if necessary, that they do
understand this. For most of us, it's simply a matter of signing the
marriage certificate.

There have been numerous cases where developmentally disabled people
have sued fir, and won, the right to marry. Same for prisoners, the
terminally ill, and the like. All were able to show the ability to
understand what marriage is. So unless you want to marry Olga the
amazing Talking Genius Sheep, that animal is not going to pass the
legal hurdle.

The Sam-sex marriages aren't even talking about that. We are
discussing people who are adults, and are capable of understanding and
consenting to the obligations of civil marriage.

LOL! You are a bloody lousy teacher, partner. Teachers explain
things, you just repeat the same thing over and over.

I've repeated the explanation over and over. Why are you unable to
understand the explanation? Do you have an identified learning deficiency?

Ad hominem attack noted.

Not according to the courts.

It's not up to the courts.

Actually, it is. The courts interpret the law. Article III, Section
2, Clause 1 of the Constitution of the United States. I can give you
piles of cases that directly counter your position.. starting with
Marbury v Madison and going up to the recent Supreme Court decision on
Sodomy laws.

--

Douglas Berry Do the OBVIOUS thing to send e-mail

WE *ARE* UMA
Lemmings 404 Local

"Douglas Berry" wrote in message
...

Of course, the difference is that humans can clearly indicate that
they understand marriage, and animals can't. You have a slight
problem there.


Actually, if all humans clearly understood marriage, there'd be no call for
same-sex marriage!



Because contract law depends on both parties being competent to
understand the implications of the agreement.


But we're talking about arbitrarily redefining marriage. Human-animal
marriage wouldn't require the animal to understand the concept of marriage.