Aside from religious reasons, what's the point of marriage?

Question

Why does the state endorse and encourage marriage? Consider all the couples who raise families (like mine) without ever going to get a marriage license. Is marriage an outdated institution?

Answer 1

The state has an interest in having people look after themselves. When people commit to a marriage, they take on a set of duties, and for that, they get a set of benefits. The state is less likely to have to care for someone who is temporarily out of work or ill if they have a partner. Those who choose to have children also get benefits, because they are looking after the kids.

This should be termed a civil union, since it is really a contract between the two people and the state - there is an exchange of goods or services between the parties.

This is also why states should encourage civil unions for all couples, not just heterosexual ones. The same benefits accrue to the state if a gay couple have a civil union as a straight couple.

Marriage is a religious issue, and should be left to the churches to deal with.

Answer 2

Religion wasn't involved (at least not by much) until the medieval times when the Roman Catholic church decided it needed to be the be-all and end-all of every aspect of a person's life. So, lets look at the history of marriage.

Originally, it was a contract between the two people or the two families, detailing the financial obligations, the obligations of raising children, and what should occur should the two decide they no longer want to be together. In Babylonia, in Rome, and in most places around the world, the "ceremony" was conducted in the family home and officiated by the parents of the bride and groom, not a priest.

Until the Catholic Church (and later other religious instutions) became involved, there were several levels of marriage that were considered "legal". For instance, in Ancient Egypt, a woman who simply lived with a man without having an official contract was called "sister" (as in 'I will take care of you the same way I would take care of my sister', nothing disgusting). However, in Mesopotamia, there were three levels...the concubine (the most easily disolvable), the simple contract (much more difficult to disolve), and finally, they too had a "Sister" marriage...With this form, a man who loved his wife and wanted to never leave her would legally adopt her as his sister...by custom and by law, even if he later wanted to divorce her, he was still obligated to take care of her the rest of her life, just as he was legally obligated to care for his unmarried sisters.

(Some sociologists say that it was this confusion of "sister" between the two areas that would have caused the problems with Sarah and Abraham...Abraham would have been saying, "This is my wife whom I can never divorce", while the pharoh would have heard, "This is my live-in girlfriend."

So, the style of family that you have is still a part of that ancient tradition. Its only those who follow the belief that the church, or the state, has to be involved that think differently.

Answer 3

Simply stated
Marriage is an institution that is entered into by two adults
with the intention of expressing their undying love in front of the Lord ,
to one another for the rest of their natural lives.

as far as the act of marriage being outdated ,
perhaps you have hit it right on the head,
a moral relaxation has occurred that has festered ,
All this has created the disrespect people have for religious ceremonies or the failure of people to believe in anything beautiful.
It is when someone has an opinion of what is right and what is wrong ,
before they can see both sides and respect each others choices ,
then we have a serious problem,
and that is what is important to those that believe in their religious ceremonies, whom take the marriage most seriously.
not just move in ,have kids, and say he or she's my wife?

You can try and justify your thoughts by passing your situation but you just can't change what people believe in

Answer 4

we've a separation of church and state, even nevertheless, we do have a fashion of existence that progressed over 1000's of years. Our criminal gadget is in keeping with English undemanding regulation. the belief of marriage is in all cultures and definitely has not something to do with faith. Marriage is there to guard the youngsters created by sexual relationships and help to substantiate the daddy supplies you for them. of course, a gay marriage can not produce infants by sexual ability and might desire to not produce a infant in any respect till very those days. a minimum of not the two interior the courting. as a result, the choose for gay marriage grew to become into not there. Now, might desire to it is banned. No, I see no harm in letting gay human beings get married simply by fact no person is harmed. And in in the present day's worldwide many undertake, have in vitro fertilization and so on. So, why not enable them to have the excitement journey it rather is marriage.

Answer 5

Marriage pre-existed the United States, and most states in existence today. The State may give certain benefits to married couples, and the legal relationship of Marriage allows for stability in society through easier identification of support for children, for partition of parenting time between husband and wife, for support for women who are giving birth and raising young children.

Surely, you say, the State can do all of these things. Well, so far, it can do some of them, not others, and none of them as well or as inexpensively.

-j.

Answer 6

>Is marriage an outdated institution?

Yes. The government should just get out of marriage and let people decide what they want to do on their own terms. The only time the government should intervene and turn a relatioinship into a legal proceeding is if it has to in order to protect the rights of children.

Answer 7

In the many years I have known of this there is no real reason i feel anyone should get married to me it is only a form of identification to the state and government
I have been with the same man for 5 years and we dont need a licence to say that we love each other
it seems to cost more to get a divorce than it does to get married and the heart ache is much more hurtful
and costly

Answer 8

Here's some memorable lines from a Carpenters song about how lack of a formal commitment just makes it easier to stop a relationship:

"I used to say no promises, let's keep it simple.
But freedom only helps you say goodbye.
It took a while for me to learn that nothing comes for free.
The price I've paid is high enough for me."

I think if even fewer people were married, the number of people splitting up would be even much higher. The rest stay together for financial and family reasons. I may have a pessimistic opinion of marriage, but from what I have heard friends and colleagues say, I think only about one in ten people really have a successful, loving marriage.

Answer 9

Legally marriage is a contract between two people to share everything. That is why divorces are so messy.

For me, morally, my marriage was a public declaration of my love and commitment to my wife. That will never be outdated.

Answer 10

Religious or Civil -- it is about commitment to the other person. I know lots of people say, "well, it's just a piece of paper." Really, well them why don't they go before a preacher or Judge in front of two or more witnesses and say I do? There's something special about the marriage ceremony........