Tuesday, September 4, 2012

What In The Heck Is Marriage Anymore?

Driving around today, much to my joy, my favorite Adele song came on.  When the song was over, some bubbly DJ, in a really saccharine and smiley voice reported that "the rumor that Adele got married this weekend apparently isn't true.  She was maybe going to run off and get married this weekend, but it didn't happen.  We're also told her baby is due at any moment."

My instant reaction, as soon as the DJ said the phrase about her not getting married was "who cares?"  My own reaction shocked me because I DO care about marriage.  I thought about it more and realized that my reaction was more along the lines of "why does society care about marriage anymore?"

So the rest of the way home I was thinking "is it possible to turn this Titanic moral failure of a country around?"  To this DJ, and to most of America, what in the Hell is marriage anyways?  If marriage isn't a sacrament (and we're quite clear as a country that it is not a sacrament), if I define what marriage means to me, then why do we care if Adele gets married or not?  If Adele, two days later, can walk back into court and undue what she just did two days earlier (with a nominal processing fee) why in the world would anyone care if Adele got married or not? 

As a society, we certainly don't care if Adele gets married because we are worried about the mental health of her child.  We have disregarded any study that would say her decision to marry or not would have any meaningful impact on her child's life, and we've disregarded any studies that suggest that if Adele married Stephanie or Brenda that it would have any meaningful impact on her child, so why do we care as country if Adele gets married or not?  Aren't we to the point now where, like in a Brave New World, people don't bother with the pretense of marriage any longer?  Why are we still hanging onto it when it doesn't mean anything to us as a society?

Three people can get married in Brazil.  Two guys can get married in several states in the U.S.  The public at large treats news of marriage like it is on par with whether or not a star received a new tattoo or not.  Assuming as our populace does that the Catholic Church has the completely wrong understanding of marriage, and assuming that it isn't a sacrament, can anyone explain to me what marriage is today for our country?  I'd love to hear it.  If you are a man with a boyfriend, or a girl with a girlfriend or you live in Brazil and you are preparing for your three person wedding, or maybe you are just a supporter of marriage rights for all people - can you please send me your understanding of what marriage is today. 

The only reason I can think that our populace cares if Adele gets married or not is because weddings were a big deal for people "in the old days" and so they are a kind of nice little cultural event, and so to recreate those nice little parties from the past is fun, like going to the fair or watching a movie at a drive-in theater or purchasing a hand-spun milkshake.

I know who wins in the long run, but I guess I'm just wondering if there is any hope for turning this country around?  On a positive note, I'm reminded of Abraham who bargains with God and talks him down to sparing Sodom and Gomorrah if Abraham can just find 10 good people living there.  Then I'm saddened when I remember Abraham didn't find 10 people and Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.  "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:8).  As with all of Jesus' questions, it is one worth pondering.

11 comments:

  1. In pondering this question, I'm going to say there's not much hope for the U.S.A. in general. If I'm going to ponder about the future I need to look to the past for clues.
    Noahs Arc, Abraham, Moses. (Gosh even after God spoke to Moses he practically had to kill him, just to get him to circumsize his sons.)
    The Israelites, and sending out the disciples two by two. Beginning the church at the giant rock in caesaria phillipi, in a place that was 20 miles out of the way, seems to insinuate constant travel. There seems to be a pattern of dusting off the feet and moving elsewhere when people can't stick with or accept God's teaching. Peter left Jerusalem just in time. Catholicism was being closed in upon before evangelization took hold in the New World and the Holy Spirit breathed new life into the church at Trent.
    Day dreaming and looking forward, maybe the next big conversion will take place after the chair of peter is driven from rome and surfaces somwhere else. perhaps africa, who knows..maybe some of the seeds from this country will be involved. But it seems that Gods people keep on the move. I pray Jesus comes, come Maranatha Come, but on the other hand doesn't seem it rationale for God to extend his love to as many souls as possible meaning continued generations of souls to share in his everlasting gift. it may be thousands, millions of years... before he comes. maybe the Church will resurface on some foreign planet. hows that for daydreaming. But I think willingless to evangelize has something to do with his eternal plan for human beings. when God can't find One Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter, or John Paul II watch out!

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  2. Father, I think another reason our society likes weddings is because they have morphed into one big, giant expensive party, and many in our society love nothing more than a good party, especially if booze is involved.

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  3. To add to my previous comment, I also think we still love weddings because it gives the bride and groom (but especially the bride) the chance to be the center of attention for a day, and this resonates with many in our me-centered society.

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  4. It does increasingly appear to be the case that marriage is an "artifact" held to be important by those who are members of the "Remnant Church" (i.e. those who understand its sacred nature -- not some throw-away excuse for an elaborate princess party). While I hope that initiatives to turn back the onslaught against Marriage succeed, I too have been thinking about the Luke 18:8 question lately.

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  5. MARRIAGE IS A SACRAMENT....I am sorry some people do not get that. But it is.
    Just because someone says a dog has 5 tails does not make it so.....

    Marriage: One man One Woman. Any questions, Take up with God. He invented it!!! (and we believe it)

    Eddie in INDY

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    1. And he invented gay people too Eddie. Otherwise there wouldn't be MILLIONS of gay people out there! Any problems with that, take it up with God.....through him ALL things were made.....

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  6. And he invented gay people too Eddie.

    This is like saying God invented kleptomaniacs, therefore stealing is acceptable. It's a fallacious argument because it ignores or denies the Fall.

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    1. Like I told Eddie....take it up with God Scott. If God didn't exist, do you think gay people would exist? Not a chance. Whether you like it or not, everything was created by God or through God.

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  7. You are not seeing my point. God did create everything, but because of man's disobedience, death and sin came into the world. When that happened, man perverted good things like sex. God is not the author of sin, man is.

    Is stealing morally acceptable? Why or why not?
    Is pedophilia morally acceptable? Why or why not? It is stupid to say that because someone was born with kleptomania, that means God wants him to steal. It is moronic to say that because someone was born with sexual attraction to pre-pubescent children, that means God wants him to molest children. It is utterly silly to say that because someone was born with tendency towards alcoholism, that means God wants him to drink himself into oblivion. And finally, it is plain dumb to say that because someone was born with sexual attraction to someone of the same sex, that means God wants him to engage in perverted sexual acts with him.

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  8. Like I said before, take all that up with God. ALL of it.

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  9. Like I said before, take all that up with God. ALL of it.


    I'll take that as tacit admission that my analysis is correct.

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