Theoblogy
Another culture-watcher weighs in on what Kim Kardashian’s 72-day marriage — and other notorious marriages — say about the institution of of marriage:
If marriage is holy, Indiana woman Linda Wolfe, who married (and divorced) 23 times by 2009, should probably be beatified. Late actress Elizabeth Taylor was married eight times to seven different men in her 79 years—was each marriage holier than the last? In 2004, when Britney Spears married her friend, Jason Allen Alexander, for 55 hours, her record label later released a statement claiming that the whole thing had been “a joke.” Neither Spears nor her momentary husband were persecuted or prosecuted for treating a wedding, something that’s supposed to be sanctified, like some sort of carnival ride. Neither did anyone think to question why it’s even legal for two drunk kids partying in Las Vegas, as Spears and Alexander had been, to enter into marriage. We don’t even allow people to skydive in America without half a day of preparation and instruction; why are people allowed to get married on whims? Is skydiving as holy as marriage?
Based on all the evidence at hand, the only conclusion we can reach is that marriage isn’t holy. A married couple may feel that they’ve been blessed to find one another, and they may in fact look at their wedding as some sort of transcendental, spiritual event. But the actual institution of marriage itself hasn’t been sacred at least since we started letting people get hitched at drive-through windows in the time it takes to microwave a Hot Pocket.
Marriage is a tax shelter and a smart way for a couple to combine assets. Love is the thing that’s sacrosanct. The sooner we understand the difference, the sooner we’ll understand why Kim Kardashian’s wedding was never holy, and why countless gay couples around the United States who love each other despite marriage bans are truly righteous.
via Marriage Isn’t Sacred – Culture – GOOD.
HT: Bethany Stolle
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