Preview

“Is marriage still important in Society?”

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
620 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
“Is marriage still important in Society?”
“Is marriage still important in Society?”

As an atheist I don’t believe marriage is still important to society. This is because (as written bellow) in this country the purpose of marriage has traditionally been used as a form of business, money power and survival. However the changes in our society have made marriage considerably less important when compared to, for example two hundred years ago.

Today, it is seen as socially acceptable to have children outside marriage and due to legal reasons divorces were uncommon. There were very few love marriages. Most in fact were driven by the prospect of money, for example since women had poor education they had little options so needed someone to support them. Men benefited financially as when they married their wife they had control of their inheritance including property and money. This contrasts directly with our 21st century ideology of marriage being to show commitment and love. Moreover in 2012, 47.5% of all UK births were outside marriage, this total made up only 4.2% of all births just 75 years ago showing how ideas about family and relationships have changed since then. Furthermore, the number of marriages has been steadily declining since the 1970’s to around half to just 232,443 in 2009.

The traditional Christian view states marriage is for procreation, to have a loving relationship and to be united in the eyes of God. This may be linked to bible passages such as the following “At the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’, and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” This quote shows why Christians think marriage is important.

Additionally the Archbishop of Canterbury said “For Christians, marriage represents not only an unchanging ideal but forms the bedrock of society. We marry not only because we

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Author Stephanie Coontz writes about the ideas of love and marriage through out history in the article “The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love.” Early in the article Coontz quotes an early twentieth century author by the name of George Bernard Shaw, who states, “marriage is an institution that brings together two people under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions. They are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part.” ( qtd. in Shaw 378) Coontz explains that the ideas of marriage today are, although heart felt, unrealistic and daunting. She reveals that not so long ago the thoughts on love and marriage were very different for many societies and cultures throughout the world.…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Personally I believe marriage is an institution ordained by God and the marriage ceremony should be viewed as a worship service. Psalm 127:1 states, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” (NKJV) We also see in Genesis 2:18-24 Adam receives his wife from God and that marriage is meant to be permanent in God’s eyes. With this in mind I believe it is very important to counsel couples seeking to be joined together with Scripture in order for them to realize the covenant relationship they are entering into with their spouse as well as with God.…

    • 4327 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nevertheless, marriage as an institution is in decline because society has become more secular. Couples go through civil marriages or partnerships instead of marrying in the eyes of God. The British constitution of marriage is traditionally based upon the principles of Christianity e.g. the Church of…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coontz Summary

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Stephanie Coontz’s, “A Pop Quiz on Marriage; The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love”, Coontz shows us historically how marriage has changed tremendously and why it has changed. She gives an example how people once married for political reasons and necessity. Then she explains that now, people marry for love, togetherness, and sex. Before the modern era, marrying for love was frowned upon. People married each other because they were forced to by their parents. In some cases, if a man and a woman were in love, it was looked upon as a limitation to the importance as more valued objects, such as god or family.Some people even had multiple wives or husbands and there was no jealousy between them. Today, there would be a whole lot of problems if we lived our life with multiple spouses. In other cases, love was developed after marriage, but was not a necessity. In most cases today, love is a necessity for marriage. Why all of a sudden is there a change?…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A big factor changing marriage rates is the changing role of women in society. Many households are now becoming more matrifocal than before. Women’s improvement in their economic position has made them less financially dependent on men and they therefore do not have a greater pressure to marry. Girls’ greater success in education has helped them achieve better-paid jobs than previous generations and the availability of welfare benefits means that they can support themselves without needing a husband to do so. Allan and Crow argue that ‘marriage is less embedded within the economic system’ now which means that the family is no longer a unit of production – proving another reason why there has been such a decrease in them. The fact that women have become so independent and less reliant on men justifies how marriage rates have decreased from 400,000 to 248,000 in the last 40 years. Marriage also now takes place between couples as an act of love rather than practicality. With changing positions of women in the last 40 years, it is not so expected for women to focus on settling down and marrying, they can allow themselves to choose other options such…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marriage is an important aspect of our society and has been a recurring theme throughout the…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marriage has been considered by many to be a sacred practice for hundreds of years. However, the ideals surrounding these unions have shifted from the medieval 1300s to the modern day 2016. Marriages today are revolved around the couple's feelings for each other and the financial and social aspects are irrelevant in most cases. The marriages in 2016 are quite an improvement over the unions of the 1300s which were often more centered around social and monetary gain than the couple's actual feelings and happiness.…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Control Belief Analysis

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This series of concentration led me to my control belief regarding marriage. Now personally I believe marriage should be a union that is only between man and woman. I believe that marriage between said male and female, as ordained by the Most High God, is essential for the procreation of mankind. There is evidence of this fact in the Bible where in Genesis Chapter 1 in verses 27 and 28 that “God created…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Christians typically regard marriage as instituted and ordained by God for the lifelong relationship between one man as husband and one woman as wife. Christian theology affirms the secular status of civil marriage, but additionally views it from a moral and religious perspective that transcends all social interests.…

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As for my personal opinion on is marriage important? I myself am kind of split down the center on the idea. While I myself would like to get married one day, I also believe if you want to provide for a family you have to take care of yourself first financially, physically, and mentally. In other words I believe in order to support someone else you have to take care of yourself first. Marriage shouldn’t be taken lightly it’s a huge step, and there is more to it then preforming a ceremony. One example is once you marry someone you take on half of their…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is clear however is that our society needs to adopt a minimal marriage model, and eventually destroy the current stigma surrounding the unmarried (Card 204). As Card explains: legal regulation of marriage in Europe is a relatively recent matter of the past few centuries (Chauncey qtd. in Card 204). If we have been able to change our social comprehension of marriage once, by separating it from religious ties, and once again more recently by defining it as sex-independent, we can and should do it once more, by adopting a minimal marriage…

    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Traditional Marriage

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Most Christians of all denominations believe that a “traditional marriage” is the union between two people of the opposite sex and only have one significant other. Moody explains, “Christians feel superior about their ‘tradition’ of marriage, I would remind them that their scriptural basis is not as clear about marriage as we might hope” (353 Moody). He discusses how in the Bible that some important men have more than one wife and some children have different mothers and fathers. Most people forget this or choose not to see it that way. They “seem to be unaware of the real history of the institution of marriage” (Mataconis). Anti-gay religious groups and anti-gay individuals are people who discriminate gays and lesbians and believe that they should not be given a “traditional marriage” because they view them as sinful and damned in hell for all eternity. Moody explains that these religious groups and individuals do not realize that their so called “traditional marriage” isn’t as what it seems to be. In earlier periods of time, such as the 1700s and 1800s, “Marriage was about property and power rather than mutual attraction. It was a way of forging political alliances, sealing business deals, and expanding the family labor force. For many people, marriage was an unavoidable duty” (Mataconis). As Mataconis states, a “traditional marriage” was thought of as a legal contract; that a couple who was to be married should be married under certain circumstances, not out of love as people nowadays believe it to be.…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Despite the complexities, problems and challenges of marriage, the institution has existed since the dawn of mankind. Marriage is a lifetime commitment. Christian writers state that marriage, the union between man and wife is a natural institution, a practice universal to all culture. In fact, Catholics view marriage on an even grander scale. It is not only a natural institution, but a supernatural one. We Catholics view marriage as one of the Seven Sacraments; Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, the Holy Eucharist, Anointing of the Sick, the Holy Order and the Sacrament of Matrimony. It is not a mere contract, agreement or relationships between a man and a woman but a union with profound spiritual and religious significance. The purpose of marriage aside from the sacramental is two fold: Procreation and…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jewish Marriage

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Marriage is a significant part of Judaism bringing together a woman and man under God’s reign. It is the mitzvah (122) “To marry a wife by means of ketubah and keddushin” (Deut 22:13), all Jewish adherents see marriage as a necessity in order to obey God and to experience the fullness of life. In Genesis God says: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” It is a link between individuals and the wider community as it recognises two individuals coming together, celebrated by the wider community. Also the marriage ceremony itself contains symbolic significance to Judaism, conveying Jewish beliefs through symbols, actions and words.…

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Covenant Marriage

    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages

    -The concept of marriage up until the 1960s was highly respected largely in part of the religious influence…

    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics