Don't wanna make polemics or something but

[hrcho]

Yes, but how many non-married couples separate, a process that is much easier because it entails no legal wranglings or any other sort of problem? Marriage is the glue that holds a family together. The entire purpose of marriage is to formalize a relationship.

If the only thing keeping a couple together is a piece of paper and they wont separate because of the trouble, than that is a very bad thing. They will both live out the remainder of their lives (or at least until one of them dies) in misery. If a couple (married or otherwise) has issues they cannot overcome, then it is better for everyone (in many cases even for a child if there is one) that they go their separate ways.

My question is, if you plan to spend your entire life with someone and raise children together, why not formalize and legalize your relationship?

I find "Why not?" argument the worst of them all, if it can really be called an argument.

I agree that folks who choose to have kids (and today that is almost always a choice, due to an option called abortion, whether someone likes it, or not) then they should be committed to each other, but I really can't see any connection between marriage and commitment.

[Gil-Estel]

There is of course a connection between marriage and commitment, but as with all legal commitments it can go wrong. Obviously I believe in marriage being a sacret institution, a true commitment with witnesses that are obliged to help you keeping your promise. By making a legal commitment, imho, you underwrite the seriousness of the comitment. You intend to stay together for life. I mean, there is a reason you swear to tell the truth (so help me God), rather than "yeah, sure, I guess I won't lie"
Allthough all of that is beautiful, or rubbish if marriage is not your cup of tea, it is in no way a guarantee of a prosperous life together. It is as if married people are just humans. I see a few problems:
- people getting into a marriage because of the romantic feelings they have about it. When people get married in 5 month, I always have my doubts whether it will be a lasting commitment.
- people getting out of a marriage, when ever things are getting rough. As soon the bubble has bursted, play an escape.
- people thinking that marriage is the only way of commitment. I guess those people have trouble getting a real grasp of commitment.

Like I said, marriage is a symbol of true commitment, but without commitment, it is just an empty gesture.

[itjunkie]

i can't believe this thread is more active than the lothlorien section hehe

[MR. Lurtzy]

What can you say? Religion is a hot topic.

[itjunkie]

lol i just saw their veryyyyyyyy loooooooong posts and i didn't bother reading any hehehe

[jdizzy001]

i felt left out so i thought i would contribute something.  I found this in my sociology book (it's very applicable).  The book is called SOC and was published in 2010 by Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Benefits of Cohabitation:
1 Couples have the emotional security of an intimate relationship outside immediate family.
2 Couples save money by sharing living expenses.
3 Couples discover how much they really care for one another when they have to cope with  unpleasant realities.
4 Children in cohabiting house-holds reap some economic advantage from living with 2 adult earners as opposed to 1.

Costs of Cohabitation
1 Cohabitors enjoy less legal rights (inheretence if someone dies.  It's also harder to collect child support.)
2 women in cohabiting relationships do more cooking than wives (Personally I think this one is VERY situational.)
3 people in cohabiting relations tend to have fewer problem-solving skills (IE patience)
4 Children who grow up in cohabiting homes lack role models for marital success because cohabitors don't always respect or communicate as they should.

[Kev-La]

I've just been reading this thread and am frankly stunned by the sheer volume of unashamed bigotry it contains.

[FM]

Well, this is all fun and stuff, but... we DO agree, though, religion aside, that said site (the thread's original topic) IS asinine and the owners SHOULD be thrown in jail, right? (heck, if that site was hosted in my country, I'd have a word with a few Federal Prosecutors about it.

[Gil-Estel]

Agreed, religion included

[Yanko Markovic]

Dude, what can I say... it's one of the most terrible things I've seen in the web. And I'm not talking about shocking bloody videos that circulate around, but true disgust that this is, everything on it (I mean, did you see their Haiti forum? D:).

[jdizzy001]

Well, this is all fun and stuff, but... we DO agree, though, religion aside, that said site (the thread's original topic) IS asinine and the owners SHOULD be thrown in jail, right? (heck, if that site was hosted in my country, I'd have a word with a few Federal Prosecutors about it.

Thrown in jail for free speech?  I abhor racisim, but free speech is a protected amendment right, at least in the states. As terrible as it sounds, hate speech is a form of protected speech.  Now, having said that, just because something is free and protected doesn't make it morally right.  Racism is never right.  I didn't investigate super deep in the aforementioned website, (after seeing what the title of their forums were, I knew I didn't need to look any deeper) so unless they are hurting people (which would then make their actions hate crimes) no one is going to be thrown in jail for expressing their opinion in written form, at least not in the states.

[legolas3333]

Not to be condoning racism but, unfortunately, jdizzy is right which sucks cause I would have flown felipe up here to take care of things

[Gate Troll]

Well, this is all fun and stuff, but... we DO agree, though, religion aside, that said site (the thread's original topic) IS asinine and the owners SHOULD be thrown in jail, right? (heck, if that site was hosted in my country, I'd have a word with a few Federal Prosecutors about it.

jdizzy's comments about free speech aside, I would like to see these bastards get slammed for slander or libel. That site is so bad it makes Stormfront look good.

[Gil-Estel]

And stormfront is bad stuff indeed....

[FM]

Well, this is all fun and stuff, but... we DO agree, though, religion aside, that said site (the thread's original topic) IS asinine and the owners SHOULD be thrown in jail, right? (heck, if that site was hosted in my country, I'd have a word with a few Federal Prosecutors about it.

Thrown in jail for free speech?  I abhor racisim, but free speech is a protected amendment right, at least in the states. As terrible as it sounds, hate speech is a form of protected speech.  Now, having said that, just because something is free and protected doesn't make it morally right.  Racism is never right.  I didn't investigate super deep in the aforementioned website, (after seeing what the title of their forums were, I knew I didn't need to look any deeper) so unless they are hurting people (which would then make their actions hate crimes) no one is going to be thrown in jail for expressing their opinion in written form, at least not in the states.

You can express opinions, but there is a fine line between expressing a dislike for black people and practicing racism (which are different things, since racism is a crime - US included, they signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the related treaties), and that site crosses it. Also, they're borderline incentivating crimes against black people, which is ANOTHER crime here (instigating one to commit a crime).