Does marriage have a place in today’s society

Today, one of the most controversial subjects in today’s society is marriage. Many believe it to be a source of strength, others of weakness. Marriage is also seen as a type of status. In this essay, I am going to prove that marriage still does have a place in twenty-first century life. I am also going to give a small insight into the effects and politics behind the breakdown of a marriage – divorce.

Marriage, according to the English dictionary, is a ” formal agreement between a man and a woman to live together according to the customs of their religion or society.”

According to the Christian bible, a marriage should be ” Held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled,” meaning that a marriage should be everlasting without any affairs or anything like that.

Personally I believe that marriage does still have its place in society because both my parents have married twice and both find their new(ish) marriages a source of strength.

According to a recent poll conducted by the Reader’s Digest, the majority of the children taking part (aged 10-17) said that they would not have a child, unless married. The same survey found out that 75% of the participants think that marriage should be forever. Not only this, but 82% of those who took part said that they would probably get married. These points all clearly support my opinion that marriage is still treasured by many, especially children.

Although the above is true of one poll, the cost alone of getting married is enough to put anyone off. On average, the cost of a wedding, reception and everything that goes along with it is �10, 151, although not all weddings are this expensive. Personally, I think that is a lot of money to spend on one day, even if it is your wedding day. Also, a lot of people are asking themselves, ” What if the marriage doesn’t work out?” And so, in fear of this happening, they don’t get married, but instead choose to co-habitate.

Even though these are valid points, the family is still at the heart of the British way of life, despite increasing levels of divorce, separation and single parenting. In spite of this, the family is still an ” important institution in society.” Most people maintain contact with a lot of their relatives and the majority of people live within an hour’s journey of at least one close relative, while three-quarters of parents see their adult offspring at a minimum of once a month. This evidence shows that in Britain, blood is thicker than water. A family provides means of mutual support and a wreath of relationships that protect those inside from the stormy weather of the outside world and the British population sees this.

The whole prospect of marrying is putting some people off the idea altogether. New legislation is allowing couples to live together without being married and share bank accounts; mortgages etc. and more people are choosing this option because they do not see it as a lasting commitment. According to the Guardian Newspaper, there are approximately two marriages to one divorce. This is an increase of divorces by nearly 75% since the 1950’s. Also, the amount of couples that are cohabiting (living together without being married) has also increased. But, overall, the amounts of couples that marry still outweigh the amounts that are cohabiting. Also, cohabiting couples are almost six times as likely to argue and split up compared to those who are married, maybe due to their relationships being less stable, so marrying is the sensible choice if you want a more stable relationship, despite soaring divorce rates.

Divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage. It takes approximately twelve weeks for a divorce to be completed and the divorcees need to be separated for at least six months in exceptional cases, but the usual amount of time that a couple has to be separated is two years, in the case of an irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

The effect of a divorce on a child/children can be very severe. In severe cases the child/children have turned to crime, drugs, alcohol and/or smoking to ease their pain, although this hasn’t happened to any victims of divorce that I know. In other cases, including that of domestic violence, the child/children do not get to see one of their parents, in most cases, the father. Yet, some children, including myself, get to see both parents. They stay with one parent, usually the mother, for the majority of a week and they see their other parent, usually the father, during the remaining days. Some parents still argue a lot, even though they are divorced, while others remain friends with each other. Unfortunately my parents fall under the first category and this can put my brother and me in very awkward situations at times.

There are two Christian stances on divorce and they are very opposed to each other. The Protestant side of Christianity think that you should be allowed to divorce, while the Roman Catholic side believe that if you divorce, you should be ” excommunicated” from the church, you should not be allowed to join in taking Communion and you should not be remarried in a Roman Catholic Church, or remarried by a Roman Catholic Priest. The Catholics don’t only believe in these things, they also enforce them as rules. But, the Catholic Church can give an ” Annulment” to ” cancel” a marriage and this makes a divorce all right. The Jewish religion believes that both parties in a divorce have to get a ” Get” before they can be divorced. The Islam faith allows a divorce to happen, but in all cases it is discouraged. Personally, I believe that a divorce should be allowed, no matter what religion/denomination you are and I do not approve of the Roman Catholic Church’s stance towards divorce.

Marriage still has a large place in twenty first century life, despite the rising amounts of divorce and co-habiting, and I believe that it will remain a part of life for centuries to come. In s essay, I have tried to prove that marriage still does have a place in twenty-first century life and in doing so; I also gave a small insight into the breakdown of a marriage – divorce.