Fate of Marriage?

[Mortal Coil]

DISCLAIMER: This is about marriage in general, not necessarily gay marriage.

With that out of the way, marriage was first introduced into society to keep track of inheritance: whose kid was whose and therefore which kid got what.
Now, since having children out of wedlock had become more socially acceptable and people can get married without having children, do you think that marriage will become outdated in the next hundred years or so, or do you think that it will still exist as the joining of two people in a legal bond, but will have strayed from its original purpose?

[Thunduhbuhlt]

I think for a lot of people marriage will not be necessary, but a lot of religions don't support non-marital sex so some people will still get married. I think that that aspect of life will really ever go away as long as there are religious people in the world.

[Jupiter]

prolly.

but what i know is that i always need to know that they won't leave me. so marriage is like.. a major promise to me. plus, my church would never accept me having children out of wedlock. so, i think as long as christianity is around, marriage will be around. even the slightest.

[Sugaree]

I don't think marriage will be outdated, simply irrelevant. With that being said, there never was, in my own opinion, an original purpose for marriage. Marriage itself is just the legal bonding of two people. You can have the same partner for your entire life and not be married and still have a great life. Marriage itself started as a religious institution, and I do believe it should stay that way.