What defines a family? I guess many assume that the concept of the family has not changed over the years. In the past, family would have included more than what is considered the normal family today. It would have counted as its members the extended family to encompass grandparents and maybe an aunt or two.

The idea of an extended family has been declining and will keep doing so. So why can't we accept that traditions change and culture is not a museum piece, but that it evolves?

Marriage is no longer the powerful institution it once was and to pretend otherwise is foolhardy.

Many suggest that one of the fundamental tenets of marriage is procreation. I was under the impression that love was the main "cause" of marriage and through that love, there may be procreation. But to those who suggest that procreation is the main reason for marriage, I have to say that we may be stretching the point just a bit too far.

What about older folk who marry in the full knowledge that their union will not produce offspring? And the infertile who marry, what about them?

Or those who simply do not want to have children. Is their marriage void because of this condition?

Many who deny divorce often fail to mention the variety of marriages. For example polygamy as in Muslim culture, and same sex unions.

Are these not to be included in the definition? Or is the argument a religious comment disguised as a social economic one?

It is often said that divorce will have devastating effects on marriage and the institution... really? Well, I cannot think of anything else that has a greater effect. Are we to ignore the thousands of women who suffer in silence for years living with abusive husbands or the men who know that the love they once had from their wife is no longer there?

As to divorce being a burden on the state, the state is the people and has the responsibility of looking after all its citizens and after single mothers whose partner cannot or will not.

I wish all those who deny the option of divorce a happy and long life with their spouses, however, I do wish that they don't impose a long and unhappy life on those who cannot maintain one.