Why is marriage even necessary ?

[Avan:)]

it is necessary for man, because only and ONLY THEN can man truly appreciate 'freedom'

I really don't think there is another way ... lol

[Jah-Day]

I believe that marriage is necessary to maintain an established contract of love. Love is the best medicine, along with laughter. And marriage allows people to share. I love marriage! I can't wait to get married and share a contract with someone. For life! That is so empowering.

[Ben Dover]

Because marriage is love!

Edited December 12, 2011 by Jirashimosu
Please type normally without repeating 100 times every single letter.

[stevens579]

Love is not always the reason for marriage:

Not sure if this has already been said or not, but marriage is often used to acquire property, rights, money, etc. especially back then with all the royalty and nobles, and even nowadays too, there are cases where one party exploits another's love for them.

Another reason may be pregnancy and pressure to get married due to external sources (financial, religious, familial. etc)

The concept of marriage though, definitely comes from religion.

Edited December 16, 2011 by Steven Su

[Keel]

To answer the question in a more direct style, the answer is ‘it’s only necessary if you feel it’s necessary’. Different reasons for marriage have been stated here and I believe that most people here are actually in general agreement. Marriage shouldn’t be a compulsory component in one’s love life nor a precondition for starting a family.

The reality is that there are so many different reasons why someone would get married AND so many different ways that person could get married. At the same time, saying that the relationship between a couple which has lasted for decades is somehow not ‘official’ simply because there was not symbolic event to mark their marriage is absurd. I personally support the view that the definition of marriage and how people get married should be left to the individual. Why should anyone have the right to impose their marriage standards on you? Just because you are religious and I am not, why do I have to get married in a church? Just because your marriage is registered with the government how does that make it ‘more official’ than my marriage? I think this just points out how each individual has their own preferences and that the definition of marriage and how it is implemented should be left to the individuals to discuss between themselves. Whether they want a religious marriage, a civil contract or a registered marriage; it has nothing to do with you!

In conclusion, marriage is not a necessity as its value is purely based on individual interpretation. All utility gained form marriage is based on its symbolism; that symbolism, in turn, is based on human value. There is a tendency to view religious marriages or registered marriage as being superior to contract or non-ceremonial marriages; but that is based on the value of other people who have no right to put their definition of marriage on you.

Edited January 8, 2012 by Keel

[Victorious]

I think it stemmed from religion, but then somewhere along the line Disney came along, and it became a force of habit rather than anything else.

It's pretty sad because some people make it a life goal, and feel that they have failed themselves if they don't get married and enter this realm of complete depression! like they've failed in life, which is when marriage bothers me. I'm not planning on getting married myself, it will give my mother a stroke guaranteed!

I totally agree with this. It's become a sort of trend where everyone wants their "fairytale wedding."

[Andyboi]

I think the term "keeping up the Jones's" applies here, when your surrounded by everyone who wants to get married, finding a suitable mate to stay with your entire life becomes more of an instinct than anything. I mean nobody wants to be by themselves as they age . . .

[Tony Stark]

If one's not religious, it's essentially an outdated social construct. Even many of the financial and official benefits can be attained through civil union in many countries.

[Emma :)]

I agree with you to some extent. I, for example, am 18 years old and I have no intention at all to even consider getting married any time soon from now (and I'm thinking over 10 years) and yet one of my friends is engaged now to a boy a year older whom she has only been dating for a mere 5 months, what is this? She's still in college and not gone to university, travelled, tried new things so how can you be so sure if you are ready to marry that person when you haven't learnt about yourself yet. I am a very devoted Catholic and I would like to marry at some point but I don't believe that its necessary in the slightest, I think it would just be nice to find another whom you can share your life with, something more than a promise ring.. an actual promise for God. Having said that, I do feel that marriage is taken way too lightly and it has become so mainstream that kids feel that it's the "cool" thing to do. I intend on allowing myself to grow emotionally first, get my JD, make a life for myself and then consider others.

Edited March 5, 2012 by Jirashimosu
The electric blue color made your post barely readable.

[Babydolleyes]

[quote name=Gee ' timestamp='1305752336' post='116622]

Hi IBees!v

alrighty,

I am of the opinion that marriage just complicates things for no reason (other than tax benefits).So at the risk of offending people,I will proceed.

I understand that people fall in love but why do they feel so much pressure to get married?

Why don't they just continue liviing in their committed relationships?Isn't it just the same thing really?

Why do people wear rings as symbols of their love?

I mean,why is the ring of so much significance? If a person is committed,surely they don't need a ring to tell them that (not against people wearing rings just because they want to though)

I find it really unnecessary.I don't understand why people get married when divorces happen so often.They could just date and *potentially deal with less legalities if they decide to split later on.

Help!

I agree with you! My parents have been together for 18 years and they aren't married, my mom wears a ring but it's not a traditional ring. They actually want to get rings but not necessarily for marriage purposes; I think a ring can symbolize commitment in a nice way but I don't think it's necessary. I've always liked the idea of getting ''engaged'' and having a fiance for some reason, but I feel no urge whatsoever to actually get married. However, this has a lot to do with the fact that I don't like religion and marriage is too connected to religious beliefs (other than the low key marriage you can get at city hall), generally when people hear other people are married they assume all sorts of religious things about them. I don't understand this pre-occupation, I don't know many married couples - On the contrary I know plenty of people that used to be married. I don't have a lot of friends that have parents that are still together, usually I'm the rare friend of other people with a ''united'' family.

[chrnomyuu]

Marriage most definitely stems from religion, and the idea of it has carried through our society (especially in America, as we were build on a very religious pretense: Protestants were escaping religious persecution in Europe. And it has just interwoven itself into the very core of our societal beliefs, especially on the idea that it's the resolution to a romantic faerie tale. (thank you Disney). There is also considerable amounts of rights given to married couples, as they are now under the same name and household and thus share everything.

Personally I do not see myself getting married, whether that be the fact that I just personally find it unnecessary because people are fickle or if I just have commitment issues lol.

Marriage should be necessary, I suppose, if it is important to you as a person. One cannot decide overall if marriage is important or not because we all have different cultures and backgrounds that dictate this. Legally it is an asset, but that still does not determine its necessity.

I feel many people rush into it to achieve that resolution to their faerie tales. Both women and men are pressured into it by what is portrayed in the media, and just about every "classic" love story or Disney faerie tale.

And, since we are on the topic of marriage, what are your views on Gay Marriage?

I support in wholly, as I am part of the LGBTQ community, but also under the pretense that church is supposed to be separate from state (at least in the US). However, we find LGBTQ community rejected time and time again by senators who believe that God has not sanctioned it. I know that this is because marriage has it's deep roots in religion, but if marriage is "holy matrimony" why are straight atheist couples allowed to marry. I hope I don't pull on any strings, but I think marriage equality is a good branch off on this discussion, and I think we can apply some TOK to this. If I see any fallacies in your arguments i'm going to point them out haha

[Award Winning Boss]

Marriage most definitely stems from religion, and the idea of it has carried through our society (especially in America, as we were build on a very religious pretense: Protestants were escaping religious persecution in Europe. And it has just interwoven itself into the very core of our societal beliefs, especially on the idea that it's the resolution to a romantic faerie tale. (thank you Disney). There is also considerable amounts of rights given to married couples, as they are now under the same name and household and thus share everything.

Marriage wasn't created by any religious body. It existed before the three main religions came about. It's like those people who say America was founded on Christian values... when it clearly wasn't.

You keep on spelling fairy wrong. Faries is the plural of fairy, fairie doesn't work on its own.

[chrnomyuu]

faerie, not fairie. with an e. it's how it's spelled in old english or something, it was just how i was taught to spell it.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=&q=faerie&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=duVsT_-bL-yPsAK14e3oBQ&biw=1366&bih=667&sei=euVsT7CTNqGQsALmhPX7BQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy

And actually, marriage was sanctioned by the church, and what we know marriage to be today stems from that idea. And America was founded on Protestant values, which is Christian..especially in that of the colonies since many of them were founded to escape religious persecution. And although the United States was founded on the idea that there should be democracy and religious tolerance, there was a lot of religious ideology present in politics and there still is.

don't bash the faeries~~

[Award Winning Boss]

faerie, not fairie. with an e. it's how it's spelled in old english or something, it was just how i was taught to spell it.

https://www.google.c...TNqGQsALmhPX7BQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy

And actually, marriage was sanctioned by the church, and what we know marriage to be today stems from that idea. And America was founded on Protestant values, which is Christian..especially in that of the colonies since many of them were founded to escape religious persecution. And although the United States was founded on the idea that there should be democracy and religious tolerance, there was a lot of religious ideology present in politics and there still is.

don't bash the faeries~~

... I know that marriage is now seen as purely religious. I was just saying it didn't start from religion.

I know that religion is prevalent in politics today... it still wasn't founded on Christian Values. They should keep religion out of politics. They make themselves look like fools.

The tooth fairy didn't give me enough money. I hate her.

[chrnomyuu]

faerie, not fairie. with an e. it's how it's spelled in old english or something, it was just how i was taught to spell it.

https://www.google.c...TNqGQsALmhPX7BQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy

And actually, marriage was sanctioned by the church, and what we know marriage to be today stems from that idea. And America was founded on Protestant values, which is Christian..especially in that of the colonies since many of them were founded to escape religious persecution. And although the United States was founded on the idea that there should be democracy and religious tolerance, there was a lot of religious ideology present in politics and there still is.

don't bash the faeries~~

... I know that marriage is now seen as purely religious. I was just saying it didn't start from religion.

I know that religion is prevalent in politics today... it still wasn't founded on Christian Values. They should keep religion out of politics. They make themselves look like fools.

The tooth fairy didn't give me enough money. I hate her.

right, i agree, marriage has been around since human interaction i believe, where there was recognition of a couple's civil and intimate duty to each other. but it has evolved, i correct my previous statement in that the churches didn't CREATE religion, simply created, or rather, molded it into what it's seen as today.

religion in politics bothers me. there is honestly no reason for a lot of politician's decisions beyond their personal belief. especially in the case of 'moral' issues. i think politicians should come into the work place without personal bias and just do what is best and logical for the country, on an economic and political standard. not what would make god happy.

The tooth faerie never gave me any money damn her..