Marriage

When we think a little about it we notice that of all the creatures in the world, only a few of them mate for life. One such creature is the man. Even in the case of humans, we see that this idea of marrying and living together permanently is a recent development. Considering that man has been on earth for five million years. the institution of marriage is not more than ten or twenty thousand years old. One thing becomes clear from this: Marriage is a feature of evolution. It is probably something that is the result of experimentation and discovery that this is the best way. Seeing that marriage is an institution among peoples dispersed all over the world and most often a part of their religions, we are also led to think that this is something that is within man as an instinct — like walking on two legs. It is natural.

Observation of the system allows us to see some of the benefits. A man and woman who marry, give their children legitimacy. The laws of most lands, established centuries ago, make it very clear that only children from marriage have certain rights – like rights of inheritance. Also, children out of wedlock are despised in most communities. So in order to give the children good lives, couples must marry. It is wrong for anyone to make decisions for unborn children just because it is convenient for the parties themselves.

As for living together, it is the best way. We learn from couples who live with each other for life that there is a certain closeness and intimacy which they have developed. This closeness is valuable to life; like a long and lasting friendship. They will look after each other during bad times and nurse each other. They will develop what is best in each other through close support which is usually not available if the partnership is a short-term one. They can share properties and build up a family together. Having a home with children and a family is the best arrangement for us.

From observation, we see that this is what is good for humanity as well. In a home, the father and mother share the responsibilities in developing their families. This has shown that children from such homes develop into upright persons. Children from homes that split up, on the other hand, go through traumatic experiences and are often disadvantaged. For future generations too, therefore, marriage and staying in the marriage is the best thing to do.

Hence, marriage and permanent relationships between a man and a woman lead to good lives for the parties involved and for the children born of such marriages. Moreover, it is also good socially for the community to be organized in families. This has been found to be the best arrangement. Such being the case, it is very important that people marry and live together permanently.