Marriage: Its Diversity and Character

1. The Diversity of Marriage
2. Romantic Marriage versus Pragmatic Marriage
   1. Romantic Marriage
   2. Pragmatic Marriage
   3. Forced Marriages
   4. Differences of Opinion
3. Western Marriage
   1. The Western World is Fully Devoted to the Idea of Romantic Marriages
   2. The Short History of Romantic Marriage in the West
   3. Rituals of Engagement & Marriage and the Commercial Influence
4. Polyamory
5. Religion and Marriage
   1. Critical Thoughts
   2. Religious Dogmas Against Marrying Outsiders (Exogamy)
   3. Christianity and Marriage
   4. Islam and Marriage
   5. The Decline of Religious Marriages
6. Gypsy Marriage
7. Gay Marriage
8. Marriages are Convenient (long-term benefits)
9. Marriage Rates
10. Divorce Statistics
    1. Changing Society
    2. Demographics of Divorce
11. Links

1. The Diversity of Marriage

#marriage #sexuality

Marriage means many different things according to the time and place of the culture and people involved. What for some people are obvious assumptions are for others unthinkable. No-one is correct: there simply are different forms of marriage. It is the right of no culture to impose its own ideas of marriage on other cultures, and the right of no sub-culture or religion to control marriage taboos within their own culture. So some believe in multiple marriage partners, some believe in having only straight marriages, some place age barriers in different ways. None are right, all are different.

Governments should allow their people access to all forms of marriage according to peoples' wishes but this is impossible. In order for legal contracts to have legal value, they must abide by certain known specifications. So in the West we have a particular type of marriage that is legal; other forms are illegal. What this does is alienate and standardize marriage, codifying traditions into unchanging legal codes and making them stagnant as society changes. What is worse is that in modern legalized culture, the illegalisation of forms of marriage not recognized by one set of institutionalized norms causes other unrecognized forms to become taboo, wrong and looked down upon.

A problem of modern cultures therefore is that we become biased towards our own form of marriage and come to consider any other form "wrong", "stupid", "silly", etc. So, those who practice arranged marriages consider those who marry freely and romantically to be silly, short-sighted pleasure seekers. This is not how romantic couples see themselves. They probably see arranged marriages as inhuman, inferior and oppressive. Both people lack understanding that other forms of marriage are different and mean different things. When one victim-of-culture argues that another victim-of-culture prescribes an immoral form of marriage, no agreement is possible because in arguing about "marriage" they are arguing about completely different things. In different cultures, marriage means different things.

And even within cultures, marriage means different things to different people. So apart from looking at a few forms of marriage outside of traditional Western ones, I also talk a bit about some internal differences in the West of how people think marriage should be.

“We assume [...] that love is a precondition for marriage. But this assumption is not shared in cultures that practice arranged marriages. Moreover, until recently in North America, marital choices, especially those by women, were strongly influenced by considerations of economic security, family background, and professional status. [...] Cultures vary in the importance they place upon romantic love.”

"Social Psychology" by David Myers (1999)₂

2. Romantic Marriage versus Pragmatic Marriage

#love #marriage #religion #sexuality

2.1. Romantic Marriage

By "romantic marriage" I mean to imply the following general scenario: Two people have met and have a growing friendship, complete with physical attraction and compatibility of character and interests. They may move in with each other after a while. They chose to marry and maybe become engaged for a while first. Principally this is their own choice however their families and friends can exert informal pressure. This is the principal form of marriage of the West in general. Those who live in a culture of romantic marriage frequently consider pragmatic marriage to be immoral, oppressive, inhumane, etc.

1. Romantic marriage is said to be the individual's free choice according to what they themselves think is best for themselves.

2. It upholds individual freedom at the cost of social cohesion.

3. Devotion to emotional relationships but frequently only short-term commitment (as emotions change).

2.2. Pragmatic Marriage

Pragmatic Marriage is a marriage that is made possible by formal procedures of family or group politics. A responsible authority sets up or encourages the marriage. The authority could be parents, family, a religious figure or a consensus. The former two often start the process with informal pressure, social pressure, whilst the latter two often start the process with a formal system or statement. In both cases, the authority has a compelling veto over the marriage, and this system is socially supported by the rest of community so that to deny it is extreme and drastic. Arranged marriages are a form of pragmatic marriage. Once declared, an engagement is implicit, which follows through with a formal marriage ceremony. Those who uphold pragmatic marriage frequently state that it is traditional, that it upholds social morals, that it is good for the families involved.

1. Pragmatic marriage is said to be traditional, upholding of social morals, and good for the families involved for pragmatic reasons.

2. Good for family or inter-group relations at the expense of short-term individual empowerment

3. Devotion to permanent long-term relationship but at the cost of short-term problems during acclimatisation.

2.3. Forced Marriages₃

#Africa #hinduism #human_rights #india #marriage #Pakistan #slavery

Forced marriages are where one partner has no choice at all and are an insult to human rights and human dignity. At worst, it is slavery and it often involves sexual abuse. Due to its violation of Human rights, forced marriages are outlawed in Europe and in many countries that respect human rights. "The Council of Europe has condemned forced marriages in Resolution 1468 (2005) on Forced Marriages and child marriages proposing specific measures to be taken by its Member States to eradicate this practice"₄. Europe has the lowest prevalence of forced marriages in the world₅.

Forced marriages contravene Article 3 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person") and Article 4 ("No one shall be held in slavery or servitude"). But most of all it directly contradicts Article 16.2:

“Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.”

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 16.2

The practice is most prevalent in Africa₆ but across the world, softer forms of arranged marriages are more common. For example, "in traditional Hindu culture, as in Indian culture generally, it is normally considered the responsibility of the parents and family to find suitable spouses for the sons and daughters of the family. [...] The family astrologer will often be asked to examine the couple's horoscopes, and if they are compatible, to choose a suitably lucky day for the ceremony to take place"₇. The worst place in the world for it appears to be Pakistan, where over 1,000 women are murdered each year in 'honour' killings, largely for either shunning a forced marriage from when they were pre-teen, getting a divorce, or having a non-arranged boyfriend₈.

For more, see:

• "The Historical Slave Trade and Modern Slavery" by Vexen Crabtree (2018).

2.4. Differences of Opinion

Whether marriage tends to be by the free volition of lovers (i.e., by choice) or is a familial affair, has much to do with how strong the family is in society. In the West, individualism and freedom are valued above the family. Children move away from the home and freely select employment, friends, a place to live and a lifestyle independent of their parents and family. In cultures where the family is strong, all of these things are family affairs: People spend most of their days, every day, in contact only with members of their family and extended family (cousins, etc).

Those who believe in romantic marriage will often criticize pragmatic marriage, saying that it is oppressive, inhuman, unfair, immoral and an affront to personal freedom. However it is not. Within cultures that have adopted more pragmatic marriages, the success rate is very high indeed. Nearly all couples learn to love and care for each other very deeply. It is just that the long-term happiness and stability is given more importance than the short-term. This applies also to marriages that are arranged as a means of increasing the financial stability of a family or the political cohesion of groups.

Those who believe in pragmatic marriage also have some traditional criticisms of romantic marriage, saying that it is short-term, overly based on sexual lust, immoral, debased, short-sighted and frivolous. However romantic marriage is not supposed to be the same life-long commitment as pragmatic marriages, the underlying assumptions are simply different. Short-term happiness is given more importance as a route to potential long-term happiness. Relationships that do not work will end. It is not that this is short-term, but that it is not seen as "worth it" to try out a relationship on the hope that it might work unless there is already an underlying romantic love. Hence personal (relationship) stability, not short-term lust, is the aim of romantic marriage.

Cultures that aspire to create relationships after couples marry are those with institutionalized practices of pragmatic marriage. Cultures that come to think that marriages should only be tried once a short-term compatibility already exists adopt romantic marriages. There are no grounds for saying that either method is more correct or that either set of ideas about marriage is more right. Most criticism of the "other" form of marriage to what one person accepts is based on misunderstanding, assumptions about marriage made from different cultural starting-points and personal ignorance about what different groups of people consider marriage to be.

3. Western Marriage

3.1. The Western World is Fully Devoted to the Idea of Romantic Marriages

#love #marriage

In most "Western" countries, marriage is romantic. It is an individual choice made by couples. However great the pressures of friends and family are against marriage, they are free to do as they want. Romantic Marriage is so institutionalized in the West that other forms of marriage are illegal or borderline illegal.

Marriage comes in multiple parts. The first is the legal contract; at its bare bones this is what marriage is. But the culture and reasoning behind choosing to get married is varied. Love, relationships, tradition, family issues, etc, all come into play. It is our cultural expectations that give marriage more meaning than a mere contractual agreement. A good relationship does not need a legal contract to make the relationship good and if a legal certificate was required in order to make a relationship work, then the relationship wasn't a good one in the first place.

However there is a major advantage in marriage. It makes divorce a little difficult. Once you are legally bound to someone, separation becomes more difficult. So if a couple go through a difficult patch and it seems hopeless to continue, there is added pressure to carry on because of the effort required to legally end a marriage. If the troubles don't end then the relationship ends as it would with an unmarried couple, if they continue then the marriage itself saved them simply by making it slightly harder to split up! If a couple are sure they want to be together for a long time then marriage therefore has this added, non-legal, benefit.

Our culture, our upbringing and the stereotypes portrayed in the mass media and society all create certain roles that all of us are subconsciously pressurized into filling.

“Marriage partners are also bombarded with role expectations and stereotypes of what it means to be a 'husband' and 'wife.' In general these 'roles' are detrimental to the relationship. People simply cannot fit into pre-set moulds or roles [...]. Healthy relationships, on the other hand, are entered into and maintained by individuals' free and loving ongoing choice.”

Rev. Rebecca Deinsen (2001)₁₀

These roles can be disastrous for an otherwise good relationship - the psychology of legal marriage is simply not right for some relationships. But then again, sometimes the psychology is right -- especially if the couple are suited to the roles or are not caught up enough in society's trappings to drift into roles that don't fit. Marriage therefore suits some relationships, but not others. It can be a benefit, or a detriment, to the long term health of a relationship.

3.2. The Short History of Romantic Marriage in the West

Modern marriage, "for love", is a relatively new institution. According to the sociologists Anthony Giddens, Lawrence Stone and John Boswell, even as late as the 1500s modern ideas of romantic marriage had not found common acceptance. Religious authorities regarded marriage as a necessary, pragmatic solution to unhealthy sexual emotions, and not something to be done for pleasure, romance or affection.

“[In the 1500s] Individual freedom of choice in marriage and other aspects of family life was subordinated to the interests of parents, other kin or the community. Outside aristocratic circles, where it was sometimes actively encouraged, erotic or romantic love was regarded by moralists and theologians as a sickness.”

"Sociology" by Anthony Giddens (1997)₁₁

“In premodern Europe marriage usually began as a property arrangement, was in its middle mostly about raising children, and ended about love. Few couples in fact married 'for love', but many grew to love each other in time as they jointly managed their household, reared their offspring, and shared life's experiences. Nearly all surviving epitaphs to spouses evince profound affection. By contrast, in most of the modern West, marriage begins about love, in its middle is still mostly about raising children (if there are children), and ends - often - about property, by which point love is absent or a distant memory.”

John Boswell
Quoted in "Sociology" by Anthony Giddens (1997)₁₁

Until the 1800s, marriage was still a deal sought for practical advantage - a peasant could not maintain his holding on his own, without a committed and hardworking wife. When bereaved, a peasant married almost at once, often to whoever was simply most willing to work hardest. It wasn't until the 1800s that ideas of romantic marriage began to emerge from the cities.

“The traditional conception of marriage as essentially a business contract, an arrangement based on mutual practical advantage in terms of property-ownership or the labour-power needed to work a peasant holding, the conception which had been taken for granted in pre-industrial peasant Europe, was now rapidly decaying. The idea of it as the result of free individual choice based on individual tastes and preferences was now seeping from the large city into the countryside and the smaller urban centres. In one small French town, for example, during the two decades after Waterloo, the average age of women at marriage was relatively high (about twenty-five) and about a third of brides were older than their husbands. Quite rapidly, however, the average age of marriage fell to twenty-one; and from about 1865 onwards only one woman in ten was older than the man she married. A basic aspect of human nature, the fact that, given a free choice, men prefer to marry women who are younger than themselves and who are physically attractive, was now increasingly able to assert itself.”

"The Ascendancy of Europe 1815-1914" by M S Anderson (1985)₁₂

“Until the mid-18th century love remained confined to poetry and later to novels. Even when the increase of literacy and the rise of the popular novel made the notion of love rise to the forefront of a woman's consciousness, it was still considered inexpedient to marry for romantic passion. Marriage was seen as a practical partnership. [...] Although among the wealthier classes there was, during the 17th century onwards, an increasing tendency to allow young people to choose their own mates, passionate love and desire was not seen, even by the couple themselves, as a sign of a promising relationship. It was not until the 19th century that the ideal of marrying for love took real root in the popular mind in practice as well as in literature.”

"The Gospel According to Woman: Christianity's Creation of the Sex War in the West"
Karen Armstrong (1986)₁₃

Although romantic marriage was destined to dominate the ideas of what marriage should be in the West, it actually has a rather short history of less than 200 years of general acceptance.

3.3. Rituals of Engagement & Marriage and the Commercial Influence₁₄

#china #india #japan #UK #USA

Engagement is for many a public display of the seriousness of a relationship. From then on, others are actively discouraged from doing anything that damages the relationship or the wellbeing of the pair. Of course many relationships do this without the need for engagement, so, engagement is sometimes used as a "more serious" indicator, and for some, the whole idea of engagement is only a background idea that fills the time inbetween a declaration of marriage and the main event. For others, engagement is the ultimate step in a relationship, and there's no need to involve the legalities of marriage at all. Trying to push people into the various forms of engagement in accordance with others' expectations, local culture or religion, is often harmful. Those around an engaged couple should simply accept what it means to them. Different relationships will be aided or harmed by the various societal, legalistic and psychological factors of all those things.

Many people are unduly influenced by pressures from community and religion when it comes to marriage. Many Westerners adhere to a lengthy and stressful marriage ritual, and the big day itself is proscribed from beginning to end in a strictly traditional order of events, even down to the types of decorations that adorn people's tables during a sit-down meal element. The style of the embellishments are so distinct and so recognizable that commercial companies charge an extortionate fee for them, knowing that social pressure will make it much more likely that customers pay the extra charge: a wedding singer costs twice as much as a normal event singer.

As an expensive example, examine the customs associated with engagement rings. The age-old practice that the fiancé buys a diamond ring of a certain worth for his fiancée came to be adhered to by 80% of all couples by the 21st century, but, where did this idea come from? Whatever its source, it must have powerful romantic and symbolic meaning to become such a mainstay as it became. Yet, in the 1930s, only a few in a hundred engagements used such an artifice. What changed? The high-profile root of this was an advertising campaign by the De Beers diamond company to associate diamond rings with engagement, and, that those rings, in order to make the marriage proper, must represent two months' worth of the fiancés income. The original campaign, which started in the 1930s, only proposed that one month's wage was sufficient, however, after the success of these adverts De Beers clearly had dollar signs flashing in their heads, and the next wave of adverts in the USA in the 1980s double the expected price of their engagement rings. They also invented the phrase "a diamond is forever" in 1947 as an advertising slogan. So, this campaign saw a rise in those buying diamond engagement rings rise from a few percent to 10% in the 1930s, and then 80% by year 2000. It appears, then, that this "tradition" of marriage is all but a commercial scam, using psychological tricks to manipulate people into buying a hugely overpriced product. Dr Melewar, professor of marketing and strategy at Middlesex University, UK, says that it was "one of the most successful bits of marketing ever undertaken". With the West conquered, the same campaigns are being pushed in Japan, China and India.₁₅

Such commercial interventions are of course common in all walks of life - check out my page The True Meaning of Christmas: Paganism, Sun Worship and Commercialism for a further predictable example.

So one question, amongst many, that we as humans beings have to ask is to what extent we tolerate, ignore or reject commercial interventions in the symbolism (and cost!) of our private lives.

4. Polyamory

#islam #love #marriage #mormonism #poly #polyamory #relationships #sexuality #USA

The sexuality referred to as poly, polyamory, or "being poly", is the acceptance of the potential for multiple loving partners within relationships. This may include sexual partners. Polyamorous relationships are not "cheating", but mutual love and honesty in relations that are not monogamous. The bases of such relationships are love, stability, compatibility, peace and honesty. Polyamory does not accept secret lovers: this is cheating by poly as well as monogamous standards. Excepting youthful "experiments", which are often just short-term promiscuity and unstable, gender-equal poly relationships are rare for Human Beings. Most Western cultures and religions are strictly (or at least legally) monogamous.

For more, see:

• "Human Sexuality: Polyamory: Multiple Loving, Caring Relationships" by Vexen Crabtree (2000).

In the West polygamy, the marriage to more than one person, is often illegal. The crime is called bigamy. This illegality is morally wrong and is merely a case of proponents of one type of marriage stamping out other forms that they do not understand. This is likely to be due to the good old predictable reasons of ignorance, bias, bigotry and an unenlightened reactionism in matters of human compassion, imagination and tolerance.

It is nearly always the case the when one form of marriage is institutionalized, other forms are oppressed. In the modern democratic world, it is not right to centrally enforce such odd restrictions on love & relationships as long as the practices are consensual.

Many religious groups and cultures have practiced polygamy, from major religions such as Islam and some Arab countries, to communistic communes in the USA such as the Oneida Community₁₆, the Mormons (historically, they do so no longer), and many others. Unfortunately in some of its incarnations it has also been misogynistic and oppressive, but modern-day polyamory in Western countries is not so. In places and communities where polygamy it is accepted, most adults choose to remain in monogamous relationships.

“Polygyny (long-term simultaneous unions between one man and multiple wives) is legal in some countries today, and polyandry (long-term simultaneous unions between one woman and multiple husbands) is legal in a few societies. In fact, polygyny was accepted in the great majority of traditional human societies before the rise of state institutions. [...] Even in officially polygynous societies most men have only one wife at a time.”

"Why is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality" by Jared Diamond (1998)₁₇

The West has adopted a model where monogamy is the only accepted norm for marriage for the last 400 years, but in history, such exclusive legalism is rare. As Western society prides itself on its post-enlightenment tolerance and compassion, its attitude towards marriage is strangely illiberal: Only romantic marriage is seen as "right". In an increasingly multicultural West, however, I foresee future decades where all forms of marriage come to be widely accepted and legalized.

5. Religion and Marriage

#marriage #religion #sexuality

5.1. Critical Thoughts

Even more intruding into a marriage than legal elements are religious ones. If a couple are having a religious wedding then there are all kinds of obscure, obscene and obtuse restrictions and pressures that can come into play. It's not the right place to delve into those here, though, and a religion-by-religion look would take a very long time indeed.

Without religion, marriage is purely about love and relationships, not about satisfying any religious rules. Marriage seems generally healthier the fewer superfluous pressures there are on it, and religious issues are one of those pressures. The least stable relationships are those between two people of different religions, the most stable are marriages between people who are not really religious. Having said that, a wedding is a day of utmost personal importance and in this many people still find use for traditional religious ritual, especially if they don't care for theological meanings.

“There is a demand that such a day should be marked by the most dramatic, the most authentic and the most elaborate ritual possible. [...] The wedding by civil registrar lacks all these elements of drama. The tension, the idealism and the anxiety of the occasion are lost, and the civil ceremony fails entirely to enhance the meaning of what is being undertaken. Whilst for intellectuals and rationalists is may seem to be a 'sensible' way of fulfilling the legal requirements of the case, it does not satisfy the demand for some more elaborate external expression of emotion. [...]

In an affluent society, where lavish entertainment and spectacle are abundantly possible, it is not easy to devise ceremonial and entertainment to make the wedding stand out from other events. [...] Perhaps, therefore, as long as the Church can retain its sense of majesty and transcendence, its distinctiveness from the mundane and everyday, it will find itself in high - perhaps increasing - demand for the solemnization of marriage.”

"Religion in Secular Society" by Bryan Wilson (1966)₁₈

5.2. Religious Dogmas Against Marrying Outsiders (Exogamy)

#biblical_racism #christianity_sexuality #exogamy #ezra #incest #judaism_sexuality #lebanon #marriage #old_testament #racism #religion #religion_sexuality #religious_marriage #religious_morals #xenophobia

Many world religions have religious doctrine that forbids or frowns upon the marriage of outsiders (exogamy). Sometimes this is defined as people with wrong beliefs and is designed to protect believers from being exposed to outside ideas. Scriptures warn that intermarriage brings god's wrath and makes people impure. Anthropologists suspect that in some situations, the argument that "the bloodline must be kept pure" is actually an excuse to justify practices that are really just power-games (i.e., the prevention of land becoming inherited by non-family-members). Often, such rules stem from racist and xenophobic instincts. Nearly always, dogmas against exogamy result in prejudice and de-humanization of outsiders, leading in some cases to faith-based sectarianism, religious intolerance and extremism.

The Hebrew Scriptures / Christian Old Testament has many stories warning against marrying foreigners. Deuteronomy 7:3-4 and Ezekiel 20:32-34 says believers are not to marry nor live among non-believers because foreign women will "turn away" men from worshipping God - the punishment is God's anger and losing God's favour. Malachi 2:11-12 says the same thing, but also adds that the descendants of such unions will also be punished (so much for free will). Ezra has long been a source of racism and pointless sectarianism. It says when his people marry outsiders, it offends God and "corrupts" the community (Ezra 9:2). Learning of intermarriage causes the prophet Ezra to tear his clothes, pluck out his beard hair and sit down astonished (9:3). This prejudice and intolerance is found again in Ezra 10:2-3, 10-12 where 113 men are forced to abandon foreign wives else face God's wrath. Continuing this, Neh 13:23-27 has a holy man chastising and punishing mixed-culture families and forces believers to promise they will no longer marry or let their sons marry foreign women. In Numbers 25: 6-15 another holy man is rewarded by God for murdering a newly wed husband and foreign wife (Zimri and Cozbi) for the offence of marrying an outsider, because God had sent plagues as a result of such impurities.

Rules against marrying outsiders can lead to widespread incest₁₉, especially in small communities, and this leaves distinct biological markers upon our genetic ancestry, hence we have often discovered periods of inbreeding amongst religious groups through the study of family genetics. Luckily, in the modern world, most people ignore their religions' prohibitions against exogamy, and scriptural verses on the matter are rarely repeated by religious leaders. The world has moved on morally, and in modern countries negative judgements based on others' faith or skin colour are no longer popular barriers to marriage. Things are problematic in religious countries such as Lebanon where established Christian and Muslim communities make it almost impossible for inter-religious marriages to occur₂₀.

For more, see:

• "Religious Dogmas Against Marrying Outsiders (Exogamy)" by Vexen Crabtree (2019).

5.3. Christianity and Marriage

#christianity #christianity_sexuality #marriage

Originally pagan and universal, anyone could get married anywhere, as long as there were witnesses. But from the middle ages onwards, Christian institutions came to control marriage in the West lasted for several hundred years, with strict practices on Church membership, heterosexuality and no re-marriage, meaning that many people were forced to endure dysfunctional relationships.

Sex before marriage is wrong in Deut. 22:13-19, Acts 15:20, 1 Corinth. 5:1, 6:13, 6:18, 7:1-2 and 10:8, 2 Corinth. 12:21, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3, Colossians 3:5-6, 1 Thess. 4:3, Jude 7 and indirectly in 1 Corinthians 7:2,9 and Revelation 14:4.

Christian marriage has been truly horrible for women_21,22,23,24. Women must submit to their husbands, as men have authority over them (Colossians 3:18, Titus 2:4-5, 1 Timothy 2:11-14 and 1 Corinth. 14:34). 1 Corinthians 11:3-9 states outright that women are inferior to men. Women's role in marriage is childbirth (1 Timothy 2:15) and to fulfil duties in the home (Titus 2:5, 1 Peter 3:1 and Ephesians 5:22-25). In Christianity's defence, other religions also have a very poor track record on treating women fairly_25,26,27, and, in the 21st century, liberal branches of Christianity have come to accept women generally more equal in some areas, although often this is due to the influence of human rights.

Christian marriages are more troubled in the long-run than non-religious ones, and end in divorce more frequently. Stricter and more outward forms of Christianity are even more problematic, with worse rates of wifebeating and other issues. Christian theologians have themselves worried over these numbers₂₈. The overall secular approach of a love-and-relationship-first yields more stable results.

The era of Christian marriage is drawing to a close; alongside those of other religions; in all developed countries the percentage of marriages being performed by civil and Humanist (non-religious) bodies continues to increase; for example, in England and Wales the early 1990s were the last years where over half of marriages were Christian₂₉.

For more, see:

• "Christianity and Marriage" by Vexen Crabtree (2023).

5.4. Islam and Marriage

#child_marriages #christianity #divorce #iran #islam #malaysia #male_dominance #marriage #pakistan #saudi_arabia #UK

Islam is a religion that takes marriage seriously, as a concept sanctioned by god and enshrined in holy law₃₀. Muhammad said that God hates divorce₃₁. In Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iran, it is illegal to have sex outside of marriage₃₂. But this rigidity all too frequently descends into barbarism and a denial of human rights, including wifebeating, endorsed in Qur'an 4:34 and several Hadiths. Take the 2007 case of Lina Loy, in Malaysia. She converted to Christianity and wanted to marry her Christian fiancé. It is illegal there for Muslim women to marry Christians and despite her case reaching the highest courts, she was refused permission to legally convert to Christianity in order to marry. This was a routine denial of the human rights of belief, of family life, and of privacy. She now lives in hiding after receiving death threats (as has the lawyer who defended her)₃₃. Throughout Muslim countries, marriage is an institution where women are utterly dominated by men and women are legally inferior in the Qur'an₃₀. Muslim women cannot marry non-Muslims (but men can)₃₀. The practice of forced marriages (i.e. ba'l₃₁) is nowhere more popular than it is in Muslim countries. Worse, child marriage is given sanction in Qur'an 65:1-4 which also allows pre-menstrual girls to be divorced after having sex with them. Countries such as the UK have legislation specifically to deal with such abuses.

The fundamental problem is twofold: (1) The Qur'an's rules on marriage are not suitable for the modern world where women are no longer the property of men, and (2) a number of traditional cultures, who are now Islamic, have practices that are offensive to current values of fairness, equality and decency.

Thankfully, most Islamic communities live with a much more modern outlook. Proto-liberal Islamic scholars such as Tariq Ramadan point out that it is compatible with strict Islam to accept national laws on marriage even where they contradict how marriage would be ran in a purely Shariac-compliant framework₃₄.

For more, see:

• "Problems With Marriage in Islam: From Child Marriages to Male Dominance" by Vexen Crabtree (2021).

5.5. The Decline of Religious Marriages

Although religious marriages continue at one in three, the reason for their use has become largely secular. Marriage is a result of modern secular pressures and not a result of beliefs or belongings to religious churches. Which is fortunate enough, for important lifelong (by common assumption) decisions such as who you choose to wed, are decisions best taken on their emotional worth, sense, commitment to the person; it seems that religion itself would ironically assert unholy, inhuman pressures on relationships. The most telling truth behind the thought that religion hinders good relationship choices are higher divorce rates of religious marriages, which we see at the end of this page.

The statistics show % of the total population of England and Wales (excluding the Isle of Man and Channel Islands) and "Anglican" mean "Church of England or Church of Wales"₃₅

“Between 1993 and 2003, the number of Jewish weddings in England and Wales slipped by 17%, while Anglican weddings fell by 37% and Catholic unions tumbled by 44%”

The Economist (2006)₃₆

6. Gypsy Marriage

#marriage #sexuality #UK

Gypsy marriage is different to the Western mainstream. They do not care for legalistic documents such as the certificates of marriage, death, birth, etc, and their customs of marriage are so different that what we consider legal marriage they consider misguided. Gypsy marriage is best done between twelve and sixteen, and definitely before 18. The bride is normally the oldest and wisest, and helps the groom in all areas as he learns to earn money, etc, for himself. Thus the marriage is more than it is in mainstream Western culture. It serves as a connection between the clan-like families of Gypsies, and the choices of who to marry are based on politics and ambition of the parents as much as the compatibility of the youngsters. Gypsy marriages are generally not life-long, and most will re-marry to more suitable partners later in life. Brides are free to leave their groom and return to their own family. As such, it is a clean and comprehensive synthesis of both pragmatic and romantic marriage types.

But it doesn't always work out nicely. Nazir Afzal is head of the Crown Prosecution Service in the North West UK (i.e., he is a head public prosecutor). He says some of the forced marriages within the Gypsy and travellor communities that involve children are clearly abusive and illegal, rather than merely different. He says officialdom at present has a tepid and overly sensitive approach.₃₇

Kephart informs us₁₆ that the culture of Gypsy marriage changes slowly over time just like other cultures, and that Western-style love-marriages are becoming more popular, and that some adults are openly critical of the more traditional gypsy weddings. As Gypsies view the gadje (non-gypsies) as inherently unclean, ritually unclean, intrusive, aggressive and bad in most ways. The most rigid marriage prohibition is against marrying non-gypsies.

7. Gay Marriage

#belgium #canada #catholicism #christianity #denmark #finland #france #germany #iceland #luxembourg #netherlands #new_zealand #norway #south_africa #spain #sweden #UK #USA

Civil partnerships in the UK allow gay marriage in all but name, and were created in 2005. By half way through 2008 "nearly 60,000 Britons had entered a same-sex union, giving them legal rights virtually identical to those of married couples"₃₈. This generation has seen a wave of legal tolerance sweep the world, where some of the prejudces of history have been trumped.

Prejudices against homosexuality were not always encoded into law, however. In the time before the dark ages, European communities were variously accepting of gay marriage. But the Christian age of faith saw violent intolerance sweep the continent as certain types of marriage were made illegal and transformed into social taboos. People could only marry if it fit the Christian prejudices of what marriage should be. Islam arose also, and held to similar monotheistic patriarchal norms. Thankfully, since the enlightenment, much of the religious damage to marriage has been undone and in many countries adults are free to marry whom they choose. Starting with Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands the 90s saw the beginning of the gay rights movements victories over established prejudice in an increasing number of developed countries. There is not a single case in all these victories where there have not been multiple large and mainstream Christian groups running campaigns to prevent equal rights for gays. The Catholic Church and the vast majority of Christian denominations continue to battle at local and European levels to repeal those rights already attained. The Catholic Church has gained some ground in 1997 in exempting itself from some European gay rights conventions, and the Church of England has also succeeded in partially exempting itself from UK employment anti-discrimination laws with regards to homosexuality. The traditional churches were wrong about slavery and anti-black racism, and they continue to do wrong on the issue of discrimination against homosexuals. Eventually, when enough of their youth have grown up within gay-tolerant society, the Churches will change to embrace homosexual equality as they did to embrace abolitionism and race equality.

Here is a brief history of all major gay rights victories with regards to the legal rights of marriage:

Link:

• "The Battle Between Monotheism and Homosexuality: Religious Prejudice Versus Equality" by Vexen Crabtree (2014)

8. Marriages are Convenient (long-term benefits)₄₆

Married couples are financially better off than others. This is a hard fact demonstrated by many socio-economic studies.

“Marriage itself is a "wealth-generating institution", according to Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe, who run the National Marriage Project at Rugers University. Those who marry "till death do us part" end up, on average, four times richer than those who never marry. This is partly because marriage provides economies of scale - two can live more cheaply than one - and because the kind of people who work hard, plan for the future and have good interpersonal skills - are more likely to marry and stay married. But it is also because marriage effects the way people behave. American men, once married, tend to take their responsibilities seriously. [...] Married men drink less, take fewer drugs and work harder [it raises hours worked quickly and substantially], earning between 10% and 40% more than single men with similar schooling and job histories. [...]

Marriage also encourages the division of labour. Ms Dafoe Whitehead and Mr Popenoe put it like this: "Individuals can develop those skills in which they excel, leaving others to their partner.”

"Marriage in America" in The Economist (2007)₄₇

Adam Smith, the founder of economics "observed two centuries ago [that] when you specialise, you get better at what you do, and you produce more"₄₈. For reasons of economic efficiency, specialisation and behaviour-change, married couples do better off. There are also legal advantages, housing advantages (money and space are saved when two people share) and other work advantages. A married couple can help each other with work preparation and encourage each other. For this reason, in Europe, divorce settlements tend more towards splitting all of a couples' wealth equally when they divorce, because the courts recognize that much of a workers' success is due to (indirect) support from the spouse.

So it is slightly strange that the term "marriage of convenience" is used so negatively. As arranged marriages and pragmatic marriages tend to actually work out quite well in the long-term, it should be reckoned that marriages of convenience will also work themselves out, over time, into the romantic-marriage that Westerners hold as an ideal.

9. Marriage Rates

#judaism #UK

Percent Marriages in the UK₄₉

Marriage is at its lowest rate in the UK since records began in 1862₅₀. The history of marriage rates suggests that secular marriages are showing strong growth, whereas other Christian weddings have been decreasing in number for over 150 years. This prehistory was changed in the period since the 1960s, when the decline of the religious institution in the UK went into full swing.

“Between 1993 and 2003, the number of Jewish weddings in England and Wales slipped by 17%, while Anglican weddings fell by 37% and Catholic unions tumbled by 44%”

"Kosher in the Country" in The Economist (2006)₅₁

The rise in secular marriages from the teens in the 19th century, to 20-something percent in 1900-1930, was not met by a rise in divorces, as many Christians at the time bemoaned would happen. However, as we will see below, social changes have led to massive increases in divorce rates (above all, amongst Christians) since the late 1960s (ignoring the World War 2 aftermath). The overall marriage rate has decreased over the same period; indicating again that society has moved away from the traditional idea of what marriage is.

Europe in general has seen similar trends. In 1970 there were almost eight marriages per 1000 people per year, but in 2004 that had steadily dropped to less than five. The average age, like the UK, has also increased across Europe, now being at over 30 for men, and nearly 28 for women.₅₃

10. Divorce Statistics

10.1. Changing Society

#bolivia #philippines #spain #USA

Marriage was once a lifelong certainty, like a job or one's nationality₅₅. But, all modern things change quickly and are more temporary. Jobs, like marriage, are no longer assumed to be life-long bedrocks of stability in the West. In 'collectivist' or community-orientated countries where marriage is pragmatic rather than romantic, marriages last much longer.

“Divorce rates vary widely by country, ranging from .01 percent of the population annually in Bolivia, the Philippines, and Spain to 4.7 percent in the world's most divorce-prone country, the United States. To predict a culture's divorce rates, it helps to know its values (Triandis, 1994). Individualistic cultures (where love is a feeling and people ask, "What does my heart say?") have more divorce than do communal cultures (where love entails obligation and people ask, "What will other people say?")”

"Social Psychology" by David Myers (1999)₅₆

Although the chart shows a massive increase in the divorce rate over a long period, it has since then dropped off. Fewer people are marrying, but, divorces have now dropped to their lowest level since 1981, at a rate of 11.9 divorcing people per 1,000 of the married population₅₇.

10.2. Demographics of Divorce

#christianity #UK

Various factors are correlated with a higher chance of divorce: religion, poverty, and poor education. It's not clear how any chains of cause-and-effect might work (if any). There are some communities, especially amongst the very poor and those with disrupted lives, where there are not many long-term, stable, marriages.

“Having never observed a stable marriage close-up, she will have to guess how to make one work. By contrast [a girl from a stable family] has never seen a divorce in her family. This makes it much more likely that, when the time is right, she will get married and stay that way.”

"Marriage in America" in The Economist (2007)₄₇

• Christians have a higher divorce rate, and as Christian beliefs pass away in the UK, divorce rates have dropped significantly.

• Immigrants tend to have a more conservative attitude towards marriage and divorce less often₅₀; as the UK's populace ages, immigrants make up a higher proportion of marrying-age adults who are more likely to stay together.

• People who marry are marrying older₅₀ after a period of cohabitation, meaning that marriages last longer.