State of mind

There are some people who really shouldn't be allowed out without a minder. (No, I'm not one of them.) Here's an example, here...

Quick summery of Prof Julian Le Grand's position, quoted from the article...

Without having to undergo a public ceremony or take any vows, they should simply be regarded as married in law as soon as the child's birth is registered, Prof Le Grand, Tony Blair's former Downing Street health adviser, said.

Those who later decide to separate would have to go to court to seek a divorce in exactly the same way as a couple who had married formally in church or a register office.

The London School of Economics professor, who is also chairman of Health England, argued that the idea would make family units more secure...

"There would be a benefit to the child as it would make separation that much more difficult," he said.

"There would also be benefits for the woman, particularly, who would acquire rights that many cohabitees think that they have already but actually they don't.

"There are no such things as common law wives although people think that there are."

Now - as yu can probably see by now - there's rather a lot I could attack here. But I'm not going to, because people tend to complain. (Anti-women, etc)

And there's a better attack I can make.

It goes like this. There is a fundermental difference between married couples with children and unmarried couples, tempory couples and short term pairs (such as one night stands).

That difference is the state of mind. Both have committed to each other and any resulting children. They've commited to this before witnesses, the state and the law - and quite possibly the church, their families and friends.

They have a host of reasons to work through any issues. Marriage is a state of mind - a long term view.

The state simply declaring that a couple are husband and wife changes nothing but a tick box on a form. You can't create good parents - or a good family life - with tick boxes.

This proposel wouldn't work. I don't know what affect this will have on society - although I can think of a few. What I promise you is that it will fail.

And you won't like the side affects.