Views on marriage

 

At a dinner with friends and the subject of marriage comes up. 

Nouha, an Australian lady of Lebanese origin, says she doesn’t believe in marriage. 

I agree, and chime in to say I believe marriages should have expiry dates.  Couples should decide, when they register, whether their marriages should expire after 10 or 20 years. 

Another friend Michelle then says the default should be 7 years.  And we segue off for a while into whether there is a biological basis for the seven year itch.

Straight Republican Jewish guy in the corner brings it back to marriage by saying, “What about the offspring?” and I counter with, you still need to support the children after a marriage ends.  You continue to love them and be there for them. 

At any rate, if you’re in a conventional marriage and you divorce, the psychological trauma of a nasty separation would scar the children even more.

This concept of a renewable marriage is already possible; it’s called a civil union and it’s not just for same-sex couples -- heterosexual civil unions are legally allowed in jurisdictions such as Quebec, New Zealand and Uruguay, apparently. 

Technorati tags: civil union, marriage, divorce