Marriage is a ceremony officiated by a lawfully authorized person to officially pronounce the physical union of two adult individuals in a civilized society. It is evidenced by an official document called a marriage contract.
The marriage contract is a legal document that demands the two adult individuals who entered into it, to abide by the statutes that govern the marriage, including the sharing of a house and other properties, supporting the incidental children produced by the marriage into a family, and a host of prohibitions that protect the individual contractor of the marriage.
Marriage does not necessarily connote procreation, neither does it guarantee an eternal union of mind and body. It is a convenience invented by society to maintain social order but it does not assure maintenance of social order and peace of mind.
Too many marriages fail and too many children become victims of broken families. Too often, unplanned pregnancies become a reason to get married without a strong foundation for the demands of living together and having a family. Too soon, the persons involved in such marriage become disillusioned and can't wait to get out of each other's presence.
Sex in a failing marriage becomes not a tool for procreation, but a means to show superiority and domination. It deteriorates from a mutually shared loving intimacy to plain lust and humiliation.
The female is more often the victim of a deteriorating marriage. As a wife and a mother, she tries hard to preserve the family and many times suffers the emotional and physical hardships brought about by the disintegrating union. She has less freedom of choice, being bound by the morals and mores built by society around the marriage contract.
The children are the next victims of a deteriorating marriage and a broken family. The palpable bitterness and the thick emotionally charged home environment creates an undesirable and long lasting effect on the innocent children.
For a marriage to work positively and progressively, a deep and solid foundation for a long lasting relationship should exist between the two contracting parties.
A relationship built on trust and respect between two individuals does not need any ceremony to withstand the test of time and circumstances. Without trust and respect, love does not exist. And without love, no marriage can exist progressively.
A relationship that bears commitment of two people who love each other can withstand the test of time and circumstances even without the marriage ceremony or the marriage contract. Two individuals who love one another unconditionally, who trust and respect each other absolutely, who communicate openly, will make a lasting relationship that will grow stronger with time.
A marriage built on love and commitment will produce a happy and enduring family that is the basic unit of society. A family that will produce well adjusted and productive children that will in turn build a better society in the future.
A solid and strong loving relationship is something that the two persons contracting the marriage must make sure of before entering into such a contract. In getting into a marriage contract, never settle for less than love.
