posted on March 28, 2004 04:43:05 PM new
I've asked this before, but since the news coverage about gay marriages, it seems like more people are talking about the marriage concept. Does being married for a lifetime work for everyone? Would contracts be better? Do you think we even need to be married anymore?
posted on March 28, 2004 05:17:05 PM new
This is not a one size fits all world. It works for some and not for others.
Friends don't let friends vote Republican!
posted on March 28, 2004 05:43:18 PM new
Well KD great question. If the couples are religious then marriage is a must. It is supposed to be for life but as you can see the divorce rate is high. Contracts would be fine and as in marriage as long as the commitment lasts. But, any union between a man or a women, women and women, male and male has to have a contract. It has to be a binding contract for the obvious reasons, life insurance, medical insurance, any contract that requires two signatures. Both in this union has to be serious and can't be fly by night. One night does not make a commitment, it might produce an offspring but that is not a commitment as it is obvious with the dead beat dads and sometimes women. As in divorce the contracts have to have the proper consequences. Child support, etc.
posted on March 28, 2004 06:21:48 PM new
Well, speaking for myself, I've had a lifetime of seeing family and friends in marriage. With a few exceptions the formula seems to be: they were happy, then they got married and became unhappy, then they got divorced and they were happy again.
So I decided to cut out the middle and just stay happy.
Seriously, though, marriage seems to me to be something that must be worked for. It means making compromises and often putting your own needs second--or even third. And not too many people are willing to do that much work or set aside their own wants.
Homosexuality is in no way "destroying" marriage. Marriage as an institution became endangered as soon as divorce became readily available and lost its stigma in society.
******
Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
posted on March 28, 2004 07:03:23 PM new
Bunni, what I meant by gay marriage in the news, is that sometimes it takes an emotionally charged issue to make others look at the whole concept, which is a good thing.
Libra, I still think marriage should be an option, but I think there should be other options available as well. Even religious people should have options.
Are there any reasons you can think of, besides the tax write-offs or whatever, to keep lifetime marriages the only option?
posted on March 28, 2004 08:22:54 PM new
Yes two things-Aids, STD's. With Multiple partners this certainly will happen.
With any, whether it be a Religious one or a contract there has to be rules. If you have a contract marriage will that stop the population growth? That is something that has to be addressed. With a 0 population growth how long will the world last. I know I don't want to be around then, but of course I won't. There will still be a lot of homeless, abused and 1 parent child but maybe you have to put in a contract marriage that they have to adopt at least 2 children and the religious marriage also has to produce children. This is a very complex situation that the country has to figure out and it will, in my opinion, never be settled. Everyone has to sit down and THINK are contract marriages in the interest of the country. Doesn't it seem this world is always in turmoil, will there ever be an end.
posted on March 29, 2004 10:41:56 AM new
Marriage is a "contract" and always has been.
An interesting stat I heard the other day was that 70% of marriages in Oklahoma ended in divorce in 2002 or 2001. That is an amazing figure.
What is the future of marriage ?
Marriage will change, just as it has over the centuries.
There has been polygamy and polyandry, throughout history.
Marriage was at one time looked at as just a political or economic pact.
We are now in what many term a "serial" commitment movement, that is, one partner at a time but in a series of different partners.
I think that as the economy continues to change and we begin to see more third world poverty imported into our country, marriage will become more loosely defined with a more communal practice. The number of single female parent households will morph into something more stable and acceptable.
