The True Meaning of Marriage Essay

Recently, people have been arguing with respect to the definition of marriage. To get married is a very important event for almost everyone. Particularly for women, marriage and giving a birth could be the two major events of their lives. Andrew Sullivan and William Bennett are authors who are arguing about homosexual marriage. Sullivan believes in same-sex marriage because he thinks everyone has a right to marry. On the other hand, Bennett speaks out against Sullivan’s opinion. Bennett makes a claim that marriage is between a man and a woman structuring their entire life together. Both authors’ opinions differ on same-sex marriage. Nevertheless, their ideas are well recognized.

In today’s modern world things are easily obtainable, people prefer instant gratification. If a married couple is not happy, instead of working things out, they seek instant gratification and an end to their misery which is a divorce. I believe marriage vows are not taken as seriously today as they were in past generations. When children are involved with a divorce the stakes go much higher. A divorce is a life changer for children, their lives become less stable and more disruptive. Instead of sleeping in the same comfortable bed every night, they often find themselves torn between two homes and two people that have a great dislike for one another.

These ideas are an interpretation of what society views as concepts of marriage. One of the things I found to be interesting in the above list was the absence of the word love.

I believe that marriage is not meant for everyone because a lot of people are just trying to find someone to buy time or someone to just be there for them. Marrying someone is a privilege, but it is a legal process that you must go through that just makes things complicated. There is a difference between dating and marrying someone. When dating someone, the couple is trying to find a bond between each other as if they are best friends, which can make the best relationship because you can be so close to each other. The only difference between marrying someone is the legal paperwork and a ring on your finger. Another reason I do not agree with Laurie Essig and Lynn Owens is because when couples get divorced, it tends to be a long court process. Usually there is a law involved with a divorce if the spouses have kids, and it usually ends with the mother having the kids and the father paying some sort of child support to help the mother. Growing up with a single mother I have experienced the struggle of not having a father figure around. This destroys a kids’ childhood because every child needs a father role to follow. In most cases my own mother played both roles. This occurs throughout most divorces or single parent homes. A child does not deserve to grow up without either roles in their life because it is not fair.

Divorce is a very common word in today's society. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage or a complete or radical severance of closely connected things"(Pickett, 2000). This dissolution of marriage has increased very rapidly in the past fifty years. In 1950 the ratio of divorce to marriage was one in every four; in 1977 that statistic became one in two. Currently one in every two first marriages results in divorce. In second marriages that figure is considerably higher, with a 67% average (National Vital Statistics Report, 2001). One critical aspect of divorce is often not taken into consideration: How it affects children. Every year 1.1 million children are affected by divorce

In over half a century, marriage has transformed from being a social requirement to simply being an option in today’s society. What has caused this change? Many institutions in our society have changed drastically along with marriage. Although these institutions have not caused marriage to be optional, they do strongly correlate with the decreased value. The economy, education, religion, and government have all altered since the 1950s. When any institution encounters a change, all other institutions are affected. Family is a major institution in society, and I believe that marriage is an important aspect of this institution. Cohabitation, religion, women in the work world and divorce have all effected the way marriage is viewed today.

Marriage has been a heated controversy for the past few years because people often marry for the wrong reasons. Anyone who thinks of an ideal marriage would think of two people loving each other and sharing a personal bond or goals together. Marriage is regularly defined as the legally or formally recognized union of two lovers as partners in a personal relationship. This definition remarks there is an actual connection between two people in marriage, but do people actually consider this when committing to “love” and “support” their partners forever? As research and studies have shown, people ultimately get married for many reasons, except love. This philosophy can be easily applied to the short poem, “Marriage” by Gregory Corso. In this emotional poem, the author argues marriage is more effectively understood or known for culture and convenience rather than through the abstract considerations of love. Here, we can identify people generally decide to marry for the incorrect reasons, for instance the story of the author himself. Corso finds himself confused multiple times, wondering if he should marry to not be lonely, for tradition and for his physical and mental health. He disregards love, a relationship or a connection with his future wife. General ways of convenience like loneliness, health and economic status between cultural stereotypes and religion are usually the true reasons of why people chose to have the commitment of marriage with another person.

A survey of 14000 adults states in ‘A Guide to Family Issues: The Marriage Advantage’ that marriage was a pertinent factor contributing to happiness and satisfaction with forty percent of the married individuals being happy as opposed to 25 percent of either single or cohabiting individuals. The same study shows that ninety eight percent of never married respondents wished to marry and out of those 88% believed that it should be a lifelong commitment. Even though, divorce rates are rising numerous researches show that young people aspire to have a lasting marriage.

Most researchers look at how children react and are effected when they experience parental divorce. Divorce is looked at as something “bad” for everyone who is effected by the situation. Divorce in the United States has the highest rate in the world. Over one million people a year get divorced and sixty percent of those divorces effect children (article 2). At the time of the divorce it seems like a horrible experience but, people never think about what would happen if the marriage stayed the way it was. Couples get divorced for many different reasons it could be because there was abuse, fighting, cheating and even if the couple was just no longer in love. “Children appear to be better off in cases in which the divorce substantially reduces

L., Feng, H., Kampen, R., & Schimmele, C. M. (2010) have a very strong statement on this issue. The results that concluded the article are very scientific but I believe there is much more that they need to look into when it comes to family stability. How much are the parents involved with the childs life, do both parents contribute equally in the childrens live. Whether the family is financially stable, it also depends on whether the children have a disability, whether it is ADD, ADHD, FAS, the author never considered these aspects of the children either. I do agree with some of the conclusions because most children are affected by divorce whether it is emotionally or

Religion and the Bible encourage, and perhaps demand marriage from two individuals to create them as one. The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him (Genesis 2:18)".  "That at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate (Mathew: 19:4-6)". Why does religion place such an importance on a union of marriage? An answer is suggestively related as to why automobile and health insurance companies provide a discount on their policies when filing married. According to State Farm Auto Insurance, two married individuals are much more likely to accept upon themselves responsibility, maturity, and a longer healthier and more satisfying life. Insurance agencies believe your life will be more structured and meaningful, to provide you with a policy. Living alone or entering and departing unstable casual

You see, if they truly loved their mate then they would want God’s will more than their own; and they would desire their mate’s highest good rather than their own! And therefore they would be willing to submit themselves to a biblical preparation process rather than trying to manipulate or compromise to get something that they don’t trust God to provide or that God doesn’t want them to have! Unfortunately, however, when it comes to getting married most people are ruled NOT by the truth of God’s Word & by love for God & a love for their mate; rather they are ruled by emotions, feelings & desires, which cloud their objectivity & ultimately lead to compromise & hasty decisions that they end up regretting for the rest of their life! I pray that you would not be one of them! You see, outside of making a commitment to follow Jesus Christ as your sole Savior & sovereign Lord, choosing who you will marry is the biggest decision you will make in life (the implications of that decisions will affect you for the rest of your life either bringing tremendous pleasure or tremendous pain & heartache). And so when it comes to making such a monumental decision we would be absolutely foolish to trust our own hearts (Prov. 28:26; Jer. 17:9) or to consult the world’s standards to measure our readiness & preparedness! You see, the world

Entering into marriage for the wrong reason usually leads to divorce. Sometimes an individual will say that he or she married for money, or he or she may claim to have married for love. Many times, lust is mistaken for love; consequently, when the passion ends so does the marriage. Some people choose to marry wealthy people solely to gain financial security, but eventually they will find that money does not lead to happiness. Others enter into marriage believing that it is a cure-all that will make

Marriage matters. If marriage did not matter, would it even be considered when growing up? The common child at some point thinks about getting married and having children. Our society has gone through monumental shifts throughout its history. A theme that has not changed however, marriage, has survived through it all due to its importance. Our children and our health are two of the most important aspects of life. Marriage will help in both of those categories. Children have better relationships with their parents because of marriage. Watching their parents, they grow up having better relationships themselves. Increased success in school has been noted. Families are more financially stable,

Marriage is the socially recognized union of two or more people. Selecting a marriage partner is very much a culturally defined process. The rules governing selection vary widely from society to society and are more often complex. How would you go about selecting a mate? Where would you begin? What criteria would you use? When we look around the world to see how other societies deal with these questions, it is clear that the ways of selecting a mate or a marriage partner has been changed from generation to generation.