Day 10: What does marriage mean to you?
As cheesy as it sounds, to me, marriage means love. It means that I have committed my life to someone and intend to be with them forever. Through thick and thin, good and bad, richer or poorer. I have no illusion that there aren't ups and downs or that marriage magically changes a person, but it's s symbol. It's a symbol to each other, to the community, the state, the nation, and the universe that these 2 souls are truly committed to each other.
Do I think that everyone has to or should get married? No, of course not. Some people aren't meant to be monogamous or in that kind of commitment. But should everyone have the right ot get married? Absolutely. And as far as that goes, if more than 2 people want to get married, they should have that right (more thoughts on that here).
Marriage is a societal institution. In some cases, it is a religious institution. But not only religious straight people get married. There is no differentiation in terminology for atheist couples. And the second the government handed out the first marriage "license," it ceased being a purely religious practice. Hell, in most of modern society, it was more of a business transaction or a peace agreement than about love. It wasn't until the 1940's and 1950's in the West that it truly became about love. So, the idea we have of marriage really isn't all that old.
And each generation defines what marriage is. People like to argue that it is an ancient institution, but it wasn't until about 1970 that people of different races could marry each other. And now we see how ridiculous that prohibition was. I full believe in 50 years, children will be confused as to what all the argument was about.
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