... revere the COBOL, for Holy is the COBOL. Thou shalt take no other language before it ...

... people make mistakes. Then again, mistakes make people. At any rate, Sony is no stranger to making mistakes. All the good will they create with this stunt will surely bolster their flagging bottom line, like that wonderful rootkit they devised some time back. You really can't buy incompetence like that; you have to grow it yourself.

Well, that's a reasonable point, but my question was specifically about the allegation which was made of it being a "fundamental right". Your point opens another can of worms, that of defining a "compelling reason".

No, you miss the point. Because prisoners get something doesn't reflect on any absolute determination of whether it is a "fundamental right", one way or the other. All you can conclude is that, in some societies, and only some societies, they are allowed to marry.

Simply to show that prisoners have rights beyond what society apparently deems as fundamental.

Even most liberals do not argue that free health care is a fundamental right, yet in recent history prisoners in the U.S. have generally been the beneficiaries of such, so I'm not entirely sure that is much of a proof, either way.

"... we've been sliding down it for 126 years and counting." I find nothing in that observation with which to disagree, but I'd apply it in a much broader context than marriage.

Please, do not misunderstand, I appreciate and value your comments, but am somewhat unconvinced that social or religious constructs really deserve to be considered "fundamental". Particularly ones with so apparently malleable a definition as marriage.

Clearly, in the context of United States case law, you make an unassailable point.

Well, I guess that settles it. Why, it may be even as sacrosanct at the right of money to influence politics.

By the way, have you taken a Papal name? It wouldn't be L. Ron the Second, by any chance, would it?

I'm afraid I have to ask which church you are representing, in this contention?

Well, it's hard to argue, Your Eminence.

... considering marriage a "fundamental right" would seem a slippery slope. Does an atheist have a fundamental right to be ordained a priest?

To be clear, I think Eich was scapegoated, but am of the opinion it is unfair to deny marriage to gays. I am only concerned here with what seems to me to be excessively broad definitions and the fallout that may result.

Now, at last, backing over someone will be just like the video game!

It's still the Sun, providing reliable, local service for over 4 billion years.