This is absolutely horrible

First ppl need to keep religion and God out of it. Marriage or what we know as the institution did NOT always exists as woman with dress walking down the isle... Marriage was really a business arrangement where many of you were sold off for a dowry or a cow or to merge some land or property... Do your research and stop thinking that the word commitment only belongs to the institution of marriage...Commitment is what you do with each other... marriage is a contract and combining of assets. That's like saying long term couples without merging their assets are not committed. No they are... when you have nothing tieing you together you have a lot to lose and work harder to keep it. Unlike marriage...many women especially think 'oh we married now, where's he going?'

@drjgelb... the fact is that we do live in the 21st century. Our life expectancy is twice what it was 200 years ago. Love, respect, laughter and happiness have been prioritized over merely procreating and not getting scurvy. I don't claim to know what the best situation is for everyone, but I do not believe marriage for health insurance or a babysitter honors what modern marriage is. This is not a religion issue for me, rather a personal one. Knowing that being happily married can be achieved makes my heart break for those who would consider marriage for any reason other than love.

no marriage is marriage.

So much conservative angst at the mere mention of alternatives.....marriage as we know it today is only about 200yrs old in the West! Prior to that, arranged marriages were the rule, with exceptions only for the highest elites and then only in exceptional circumstances. Having marriageable children was considered an asset belonging to the male head of the family. He managed that asset for the good of the family, often to ensure peace between neighbouring villages by creating binding ties. Choosing to marry for "love" is so new, despite what romance novels might fantasise about, that those in the Social Sciences consider modern marriage to be a "social experiment" that so far has not demonstrated that it is as successful in sustaining protection of children as arranged marriages with no prospect of divorce. Remember also that in 1900, in the West, male average life expectancy was 42yrs and far less in developing countries, where it was only around 32yrs. People paired up prior to 20yrs of age and were almost immediately pregnant. 1/3 of babies died before the age of 5yrs and maternal death rates in childbirth were atrocious. Widowers did''t then seek out "love", they sought a woman prepared to help them raise their children, maybe have a few more and ensure heirs would be there to inherit if anything was owned. So when an article is written about alternatives to modern marriage, how ignorant it is to claim a deity ordered marriage a la 21st century for all! It is simply fantasy, as no marriages like ours today existed in the Middle East 2000yrs ago. There was no dating, no glorious love affairs for the 99% of citizens who were desperately poor. Survival was the #1 priority every single day and at a time when a tooth ache could very well mean death over 4 or 5 agonising days, no-one even thought about open, closed, polygamous(very common to increase chance of children surviving if mother died) or any combination thereof. The religious comments simply don't conform with history written at the time!

I say as long as they love, respect and trust one another and all are on the same page than who am I or anyone to judge others on what they see as marriage.... Plus I'm an out & proud lesbian myself and can't wait to marry the woman of my dreams someday...:)

Marriage should be a partnership; not a society-shaped prison.

furthermore, polygamy in the United States is primarily restricted to the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints. These marriages are arranged. Often between teenage girls and men old enough to be at least their fathers. It is a terrible situation for the women involved.

That's disgusting. What happened to marrying your best friend and actually want to make love to?? That's so disturbing. The sad part is there's a ton of marriages out there like that!