Quote Originally Posted by Eric C. View Post
I see what you're trying to say, and I agree with you and Croc. I did push my personal opinion on this, which I shouldn't have done after all. Alright, if we were to restate it this way, that "a family is an union of n people of the age of consent or higher, (where n belongs in [1; infinity), each of which is willingly and knowingly part of it", would it be closer to what it should be? =))
yes, I think theoretically the universal answer should look very similar to what you write.

However let's look through a prism of behavior on three social groups:
One group is ok with polygamy but not ok with gays
Another group is ok with gays but not ok with polygamy
And last group is not ok with either polygamy or gays

Taking the universal approach we could conclude that all three groups are wrong and one group shouldn't have more "rights to say" on the family subject than any other. Since neither of the groups would admit that its believes are wrong I could only conclude that believing in a "right family" is somewhat a belief, a religion in a sense.
Thus if one group is forcing its "religion" to other groups it essentially violates human rights of people in other groups. It is somewhat similar to what ISIS does.

It also shows how it happens in a real world: Russia, as a whole, prohibits polygamy and would not register a polygamy family on paper. But since Chechnya has a long history of polygamy and it's socially acceptable there, Russia itself wouldn't resist much in unofficial marriages. (as for 17yo girl, it's actually completely legal by Russian law)

let's take the US as another example: many marriages in the US are concluded in churches but a church does not issue a marriage certificate, thus making it unofficial marriage. To get it official people would need to register in a Clerk's office - and it's an official marriage. It's exactly the same thing as in Chechnya/Russia