Sir, – I have three dictionaries defining “marriage” as follows: Oxford Dictionary: “The legal union of a man and woman”. Collins English Dictionary: “The contract made by a man and woman to live as husband and wife”. Blackie’s Concise Dictionary: “The legal union of a man and woman for life”. If same-sex marriage becomes law will I have to get a new “up-to-date” dictionary? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Frank Farrell (July 17th) is entitled to his own opinion, but he is not entitled to his own facts.
The idea that the institution of marriage has “been unchanged and unchangeable since the dawn of human society” is simply false.
Throughout history, different societies have adopted and altered a variety of different marriage practices. Some of these marriages involved multiple wives with one husband, a rare few involved multiple husbands with one wife, and some even involved two spouses of the same sex.
Irish society has been no exception when it comes to “redefining” marriage – we need only go back as far as the divorce referendum in 1996 to see an example of how we have altered a supposedly unalterable institution. If we go back much farther we find that the Celts had multiple forms of marriage. Historically, marriage has often been an agreement between two men – the husband and the father of the bride – whereby the point of marriage was as much about property than it was about romantic love. Yet this too has changed, and clearly for the better.
So, Mr Farrell is wrong on both counts- history shows us that there is not one monolithic institution of marriage; there have been many, almost all of which have changed at some point in the past and are likely to change again at some point in the future. – Yours, etc,