What purpose does marriage serve?

[sparklecat]

s
4) And marriage isn't necessary to raise children but to put it bluntly, I think a family unit makes it a lot easier for everyone involved.

One doesn't need a marriage to have a family unit.


To the already listed reasons, I'd add rights of citizenship for the children where one parent is from another country, and right of abode for the spouse, in some countries.

 

[kopilo]

Since marriage has increasingly not been necessary to raise children, what secular reasons are left for marriage? Why do we even bother? And how do our reasons for continuing the institution of marriage justify our current prohibitions on gay marriage?

I don't know I've always seen marriage as the joining of two people and having nothing to do with children (at least directly), I thought it was a celebration of a couple's life together and the hope for longevity..

However I must be mistaking the motivation of so many people in my life because so many other people believe that marriage is the official sticker of "baby machine". (sarcasm)

 

[nvxplorer]

Secular?
Let's see
1) Well, it all depends on the individuals involved but I think that there are still quite a few people who feel that marriage is still a special kind of bond between two people (whether it is, ain't up for debate).
2) Tax credit
3) To boost census numbers
4) And marriage isn't necessary to raise children but to put it bluntly, I think a family unit makes it a lot easier for everyone involved.


ps....I LOVE that quote from Am. beauty missus....kudos

How does marriage boost census numbers? Even if true, I doubt the census provides any motivation to marry.

 

[nvxplorer]

Though it has decreased over the years, there still remains a stigma attached to those who aren't married.

On another note, I believe some gain emotional security from being "officially attached" to another.

 

[beautyofwisdom]

Some people beleive that it's not important for children to be raised by a married mother and father. Why??? because they've seen it done other ways. Does it mean that just because something can be done another way, that it is right or wrong? Without being an authority on what is right or wrong, I can say that whatever a person grows up without...then they will be lacking in that area. If I cook a dinner without seasoning it....yes I can still eat it, but it's lacking in seasoning. So, if GOD says that two people should be married, then just maybe there is a reason. Just maybe he's trying to keep us from lacking something.

 

[crazyfingers]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061121/ap_on_re_us/unmarried_births


Since marriage has increasingly not been necessary to raise children, what secular reasons are left for marriage? Why do we even bother? And how do our reasons for continuing the institution of marriage justify our current prohibitions on gay marriage?

(I know. It's another gay marriage thread. But that's not all it is.)

Laws provide all kinds of benefits and responsibilities for married couples. The bottom line is that it provides an extra level of security for those who are married.

 

[crazyfingers]

Now you know why we say we've been protecting marriage.

When the family falls apart, everything else goes down the drain as well. How can you raise good citizens without a good family?

For that reason you should be in favor of gay marriage.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Well, originally, marriage was little more than a business transaction. Husbands bought their prospective wives off their father's or male guardians, cementing political alliances, pooling ressources or just acquiring some good breeding stock.
Naturally, a ressourceful man could afford to buy more wives than a poor man, thus creating social tensions. So then, monogamy was introduced as a less troublesome alternative.

Finally, the 19th century pictured the patriarchal family unit as the centre of societal life, which leads straight to the conservative notion of a "natural" family that's still around these days.

 

[ChristianCenturion]

So is Christianity a personal relationship with God or a system of reward and consequence for societies?

Your dichotomy needs work, IMHO.
Don't get me wrong, I've seen it before. But I hadn't expected that sort of... post... from you.

So feel free to compare your red above in the usual analogy with a loving father and a child:

Don't hang around with the delinquents
Don't play with fire
Be polite
Be a giver
Don't cross the street without looking both ways
Strive for excellence
Etc.

Of course, comparing a perfect God and a believer to the imperfect dad and the child requires some additional thought in key issues, but you should at least be able to answer your own question or see where and why I won't be joining in your... what, direction of thought?

 

[LouTheWicked]

Finances. I'll trade one donkey and two pigs in exchange for that lovely daughter of yours...

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Finances. I'll trade one donkey and two pigs in exchange for that lovely daughter of yours...

Just what I said.

"Hey, Ephraim, you loser, look at what I've got: a huge house, dozens of camels and six wives, each of which cost me a small fortune!"