tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post4596238923251236308..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: What Marriage Has BecomePastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-24184713814236074652011-01-28T11:41:48.993-06:002011-01-28T11:41:48.993-06:00I married my husband because I wish to spend the r...I married my husband because I wish to spend the rest of my life with him -- as his partner in life, parenting, home management. While we decided to have one parent available to our children full time, we did not decide that only one gender was qualified to do so simply because that was the age-old tradition. Men are as capable of nurturing as women are, but society would have us believe that's untrue. My husband was the homemaker for 5 years, and now it is my turn. We've been lucky to be able to earn enough to allow one parent to stay home. For many that is not the case and we do make sacrifices. How is it that our union is any more reasonable than a union between any other loving couple? Research has shown that the best parents are lesbian couples. Their children are better able to cope in the world and have zero abuse in their homes. The legal aspects of marriage allow that say should either my spouse or I die, certain social monetary benefits are available. He could make end of life decisions regarding my care should that need arise. How, if two people share their lives for years, is it acceptable that their partner not be able to: make end of life decisions, share in the property they accumulated, enjoy the medical benefits that any other legally joined couple does? Does the religious community think that seeing same sex couples will encourage homosexuality in others? It isn't that homosexuality has increased, it's that awareness and acceptance have increased and fewer people are living lies. How can two men joining their lives or two women joining their lives denigrate my heterosexual marriage in any way, shape or form? It cannot. My marriage means no less to my spouse and I because of any other marriage. My marriage is certainly not defined by bronze-age mysogonists bent on keeping the patriarchal power in the hands of men. Gender roles have certainly changed within society as well they should. Simply because women have the biological function of childbearing does not mean that is their only worth or lot. Men have as great a capacity for compassion and nurturing as women do; their parenting is equally important. Whether a child is raised by a man and woman or a man and a man or a woman and a woman is irrelevant except that many in society would make that child's existence miserable outside of the home -- while at home he would experience love and acceptance, much of the rest of the world would give him condemnation and judgment. It's time to crawl out of the dark ancient times and see the humanity of our fellow humans.CannedAmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08312333323225187964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-18068994171623638062010-12-07T14:34:42.706-06:002010-12-07T14:34:42.706-06:00"The decline in marriage rates has been steep..."The decline in marriage rates has been steepest for the least educated, especially men, and smallest for college graduates, especially women. College graduates, the highest earners, are more likely today to be married than are Americans with less education — 69% for adults with a college degree versus 56% for those who are not a college graduate.<br /><br />"That was not the case in 1970, when all education groups were about equally likely to wed. Among college-educated men, 88% were married in 1970, compared with 86% of men without a college education. Among women, the comparable 1970 figures were 82% and 83%."<br /><br />http://pewsocialtrends.org/2010/01/19/women-men-and-the-new-economics-of-marriage/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-10437257660158749342010-12-07T12:45:31.146-06:002010-12-07T12:45:31.146-06:00Marriage rates of the highest earning folks are hi...Marriage rates of the highest earning folks are higher than lower earners. <br /><br />I may be making an assumption but if these folks are among the elites it means they are defending the idea of cohabitation for others while they get married.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-85332851193664197432010-12-07T11:51:14.340-06:002010-12-07T11:51:14.340-06:00"This epidemic of cohabitation has lowered
th..."This epidemic of cohabitation has lowered<br />the moral standards of our nation<br />and challenged the traditional <br />Christian marriage concept."<br /><br /><br />Marriage rates of the highest earning folks are higher than lower earners. Unfortunately higher earning folks have fewer children than the lower earning, except in Utah where the trend is reversed and the highest earning also have the most children.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-59045229317457286092010-12-06T18:09:42.159-06:002010-12-06T18:09:42.159-06:00According to U.S. Census Bureau
unmarried opposite...According to U.S. Census Bureau<br />unmarried opposite sex couples living<br />together numbered 7.5 million in<br />2010. This figure was 2.9 couples in<br />1990 and 4.2 couples in 2000. This<br />epidemic of cohabitation has lowered<br />the moral standards of our nation<br />and challenged the traditional <br />Christian marriage concept. The<br />Christian church must show that<br />live-in arrangements are sin against<br />God's will for marriage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-46084321091422224112010-12-06T16:20:11.928-06:002010-12-06T16:20:11.928-06:00The goals of husbands and wives have
changed for t...The goals of husbands and wives have<br />changed for their marriage. College<br />educated couples look at marriage as<br />an economic merger of two high-power<br />wage earners. They want the good<br />life in suburban million dollar homes. Master degrees in engineering<br />and business administration enable<br />both males and females to economic<br />independence if the marriage fails.<br />The traditional marriage is too often<br />based on finances and not self-sacrificing love for their <br />spouse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-69471448047139398462010-12-06T14:42:50.373-06:002010-12-06T14:42:50.373-06:00Working away from home occurred long before the In...Working away from home occurred long before the Industrial Revolution. I think such people were referred to by various names, such as "hunter," "fisherman," "sailor," etc.Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-30632680611871157482010-12-06T09:05:45.572-06:002010-12-06T09:05:45.572-06:00The connection between the shift away from the far...The connection between the shift away from the farm hits so many things. It's not that women started leaving the home to work... it's that men did. Instead of working from home, from a trade that one did where one lived - things became disconnected from the home. Probably says something about vocation and its decay in there - a job becomes something incidental to who we are - just a way to get cash. This is giving me many great thoughts - thanks.Rev. Eric J Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17747919365522145094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-39383915901904474662010-12-06T08:44:48.266-06:002010-12-06T08:44:48.266-06:00This is completely correct and completely correct ...This is completely correct and completely correct on so many levels.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com