At what point are we (heterosexuals) going to admit that *we’ve* watered down marriage so much that it’s practically meaningless?
Marriage is a contract between four entities. The man, the woman, Society, and Gd.
The man and the woman agree to certain responsibilities for the good of those individuals and for the benefit of Society and this agreement is sanctified by Gd.
The problem is that we (heterosexuals) have watered down our own responsibilities to almost zero, yet we still want the benefits of marriage accorded by Society. We still want to ‘feel good’ about our union being sanctified by Gd. *We* are the ones who redefined marriage as a ‘loving relationship’ and no longer the contractual agreement that it has *always*, historically, been. (Love was part of the contractual *obligations* of both parties, not the foundation of the union.)
*We* changed the definition of marriage and created this freaking mess.
So we want the benefits, but we don’t want to pay a price for it and we definitely want an easy-out clause before committing.
We now have no-fault divorce so that we can walk away whenever we want. There are zero criminal penalties for cheating. We’re rewarded with money and other material goods when we reproduce outside of marriage.
Then we cry when gays want the benefits and don’t understand the responsibilities. *We’ve* stripped away all meaning and turned it into nothing more than a privilege.
Actually criminalize infidelity. (As it stands, the only punishment for threatening pregnancy with someone who’s not your spouse or bringing home disease is feeling bad.) Make divorce more difficult.
Enforce *responsibility* on heterosexuals who sign up for the contract. Make marriage a serious commitment once again.
And once marriage means something, most homosexuals won’t want much to do with the institution. As it is, all they see is a big bag of freebies - because that’s all it is. Tell gays that they can enter into such a union, but they’ll go to prison if they cheat on their spouse and see how many *really* want the tax breaks. Tell them that a divorce is going to cost them HUGE and, if there are minor children involved, may not even be possible until the kids are grown. I’ll bet they’ll become very quiet.
And this just might have another effect. Maybe more of us will think twice before running off to Vegas if we understand that the knot won’t so easily be untied.
Of course, if we really want to fix society, we’ve got to stop rewarding women for having children without the benefit of marriage, but that’s an another subject.
-PJ