A Marriage Proposal

On Election Day, 2008, Proposition 8 was passed in the state of California. This proposition has altered the constitution such that it defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Now this is great victory in the fight to preserve the sanctity of marriage in this country, but it is just the beginning of what could become an amazing era of marriage reform in our state and our nation. My humble proposal is that citizens continue to fight for marriage and family and reverse the many detrimental changes marriage has undergone in the recent past by allowing the government more control over marriage. Many people argue that the strength of the smallest unit of a country, the nuclear family, contributes greatly to the strength of the country as a whole. If the government were given the responsibility creating marriages, it would ultimately be entirely beneficial to the United States of America.

Moral strength is one of the most important elements of the wellbeing of a marriage and family. Many people turn to religious texts, such as the Bible, for guidance. For example Malachi 2:16 states “‘For I [the Lord God] hate divorce’" and I Corinthians 6: 9-10 states that “people who are immoral or [idolaters] or are adulterers or homosexual perverts…none of these will possess God’s Kingdom”. Recently, with divorce rates nearing 50%, homosexuals and other anti-religious individuals marrying, and an increasing number of dysfunctional, conflict-ridden families, the moral strength of married couples and families has been shattered. Given that immorality and depravity have corrupted one of the most holy and socially beneficial institutions, the situation has clearly reached a point where the government must take an active role in leading the American towards the right path. When people are left to their own devices, they create relationships based on lust, convenience, sexual perversions, desperation, and irrationality. If, however, the government were to create a system that helped to create more suitable matches, the many societal problems that stem from these flawed unions would be reduced within a few generations.

My primary concern is the moral issue behind marriage in this country. Some people would go so far as to say that a governmental influence on marriage would be unethical or overly controlling. Nothing could be further from the truth. We trust the government with many aspects of our personal lives. They are responsible for the curriculum taught to our children, the laws we agree to abide by, the products we are allowed to buy, the places we can travel, the information presented to us, and even the amount of money left in our paychecks. Those hypocritical cynics who argue against government-controlled marriage are rarely seen to criticize the government’s role in public education, law, and drug prohibition. As a democracy, our government is a representation of the people by the people and therefore has a duty to guide the country on the path back to a society that values strong, moral marriages.

Thus far, my argument has been general, dealing primarily with presenting the bigger picture of the state of marriage in our country today. However, I have prepared a detailed system that could be successfully adopted and fully functional within as little as a few years. As I mentioned earlier, people often make poor decisions about who to marry, leading to dysfunctional, tense relationships. What people really need is an unbiased and expert third party, willing to do all the hard work that they would otherwise have to handle all by themselves. After all, finding a compatible match, dating, and proposing are all very difficult and stressful. However, if the government were responsible, young people would no longer have to worry about these things. India, a country where the majority of the marriages are arranged (some statistics say as much as 90%), has an extraordinarily low divorce rate, less than 10%. In fact, many cultures have relied on the use of supportive family members or even “matchmakers” to assist young men and women with this, the most important decision of their lives. Of course, technology, particularly the internet, has become an amazing resource for networking, communicating, and even dating. Modern dating sites such as match.com or eHarmony have helped over three million Americans to enter long-term relationships or marriages. If the government were to develop a system similar to this, where young Americans create profiles, fill out questionnaires, and list their preferences in a spouse, it would be simple to create compatible marriages. All one would have to do is sign up, pay a reasonable tax, and fill out information that could be used to help find the perfectly compatible match. A high-powered search engine would match up people based on preferences about appearance, wealth, geography, profession, race, religion, children, pets, personal style, music, and all other things that couples disagree and have conflict over. They would be happily married within a matter of weeks. In addition, with the U.S. online dating market expected to make $900 million by 2011, a government system with moderate taxes that reached 100% of the marriageable population would certainly boost the economy. It would open up new jobs, many of which could be done from the home, making it an excellent job opportunity for the disabled and stay-at-home parents.

Not only will this create strong marriages, but also strong families. Children brought up in low-stress, argument free homes will not be exposed to conflict or differences in opinion, so they will not learn to exhibit these behaviors. This is the most healthy, well-adjusted environment any child can hope to be brought up in. Of course, the skeptics will argue that people can change and that this might bring a new level of tension into the relationship that could result in the couples wanting a divorce. If this were the case, the couples would not be permitted a “divorce”, but rather a reassignment. If their spouse could not lead them on a healthy, ethical path then they would simply re-enter the database, find a compatible partner, and begin a healthy relationship with that person. However, if theunhealthy relationship had already resulted in children, different measures would have to be taken. A broken home is no place for a child to be raised, so the government would do everything in its power to resolve the conflict and help the couple to return to the way they were when they married. Any number of therapeutic, pharmaceutical, or personality altering techniques could be used to achieve this end quickly and efficiently.

While I feel that my proposal could be very beneficial to our country, I am not so biased that I would ignore other proposals that would help create marriages based on morality, stimulate the economy, provide loving homes for children, and create lasting relationships. However, I am adamant that this problem be dealt with before it is allowed to infect American culture any further.

 

 

 -Emma, C.A.T.A.L.Y.S.T

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

"Divorce Rate in India." Divorce Rate. 15 Nov. 2008 <http://www.divorcerate.org/divorce-rate- in-india.html>.

Good News Bible. New York, NY: American Bible Society, 1992.

Llorente, Elizabeth H. "Online dating sites turn matchmaking into profit."The Record Online Edition. 28 Aug. 08. 15 Nov. 2008 <http://www.northjersey.com/business/news/27584644.html>.

Madden, Mary, and Amanda Lenhart. "Online Dating." Pew Internet & American Life Project. 5 Mar. 06. Pew Research Center. 15 Nov. 2008 <http://www.pewinternet.org/ppf/r/177/report_display.asp>.

"Prop 8 Title and Summary." Voter Information Guide. Califronia Secretary of State. 15 Nov. 2008 <http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/title-sum/prop8