Question 386

Photo by: Dr. Wendy Longo

34 Responses to “Question 386”

  1. Another girl:

    No, because you can be single the rest of your life and still be happy. As long as keep your relationship up with God, you will always have someone by your side the rest of your life. No need for a marriage to make you happy or to make for a good life.

  2. Heather:

    It’s not “necessary” but it is a wonderful thing to have in your life, if it’s to the right person. It’s a privilege that people who can handle it (even though this is not the case always) should be able to enjoy. You don’t NEED to be married, but it sure can make your life richer, if that’s what you want. =)

  3. I don’t need someone to tell me who I can love and when my love is deemed “acceptable” or by what methods or blessed by what god(s). Marriage is an ancient relic, beaten into us by religion and the mores of a society that no longer requires it.

  4. I love being married! My husband and I take our vows seriously. It’s wonderful to not have to fear that he might leave me — and he’s got plenty of reasons to. (I had three strokes six years ago. We’d been married for two years. I was 24.)

    That said, I think you need to be married to the right person. My sister had a baby and isn’t married, and it’s a darn good thing that she’s not, because the dad left the delivery room right after R made his appearance and never really came back for him.

  5. Kelson:

    Not really. I understand that it’s romantic and meaningful to many people, but you don’t need it to validate your relationship or your life for that matter. I think as long as you have love in your life -romantic or otherwise- you’re set.

  6. Another guy:

    Generally no, but if you know that you will be able to spend your entire life with that person, I think it can be a great thing. A lot of marriages fail, and no marriage is definitely better than a failed marriage, so never rush one!

  7. Aaron:

    you don’t “need” to get married. You don’t need a form from the government or permission from god to tell someone that you love them. All marriage does is make things even more “official.”

  8. Cheryl:

    I have single friends who are satisfied with their life, and some who are lonely. Marriage should only be undertaken if you want a lifetime commitment to one person. To have and to hold, for better or for worse, from this day forward. Marriage provides security and satisfaction, love and joy, commitment to meeting another’s needs, like no other relationship. It is not just a legal contract, but a spiritual one joining hearts to hearts. The two really become one.

  9. Incrediburgers:

    Not if you have enough cats and/or engage in faggotry.

  10. Heather:

    No. You can be single forever and be perfectly happy. You can also be happy with someone without a piece of paper making it official. If marriage is in your beliefs, great, but it’s not necessarily in the plans for me.

  11. according to my faith, marriage is a picture, an acting out of God’s love for humanity. So in that way, i think it’s necessary 🙂 for healthy, happy marriages to exist… because i love seeing that acted out. On the other hand, is it necessary for every person to get married? no. I’m so glad i am married (16 years) but we all know people where you just wish for them that they could go back and unmake that choice…

  12. jes:

    No. I don’t believe a relationship needs to be defined or legitimized by a piece of paper and a name change. Some people think that marriage is necessary for religious or moral reasons, but I am not one of them.
    Of course, there are some couples who would love nothing more than to get married, but (unfortunately) the law is preventing it.

  13. anonymous:

    It is necessary when two people love each other, they should get married, especially before having sex. God made sex for marriage, as something to draw two people close together for the long term. But being single can be a happy life. As “Another Girl” said, you can be perfectly content being single with God in your life.

  14. Neicy:

    Its a great thing for legal reasons and benifits. I would want the person who i decided to spend my life with to make my legal decisons of (god forbid) I couldnt.
    Its also importaint to many people and should be allowed for all! Despite the fact that I would love to be married, i doubt i will if my gay friends are not alowed to share that right

  15. Jay:

    Yes. The family is the basis for the community, is the basis for the nation. Absolutely.It provides a greater level of legitimacy.

  16. Lydia:

    Many many people have stayed single these days and are still enjoying it. I think it’s entirely possible to live an enriching life without a significant other in your life.

  17. Jessica:

    I don’t think its “necessary.” If your relationship is strong and you really are happy and have no desire for it, then it definitely isn’t needed. That being said, I still think it is an amazing and wonderful thing and really hope I get lucky enough to find someone I love and can get married some day.

  18. Sophia:

    If you love a person I don’t think there is a need to get married. I think marriage is very overrated. It is supposed to be used when two people are determined to spend the rest of their lives together. My grandmother and grandfather have been married for over 50 years. But now the times are changing. People get tired of each other and only wants more and more. Therefore many marriages end up in divorce. So my opinion about marriage is to save the trouble and don’t get married at all. If you love the person so much, you can spend your whole life without getting married.

  19. Heath:

    It all comes down to your definition of “necessary”.

    Marriage is in no way necessary, as in “needed”, for everyone. Plenty of people don’t get married, and go on living their lives happily and successfully. Some of those people are single. Some of those people are in meaningful, relationships with healthy children. Some of them want to get married but can’t because of various restrictions (homosexual, too young, very different ages, and other codified cultural taboos). I personally plan to get married, but more as a symbol of commitment (and to let my foreign girlfriend live in the same country), than as something which is “needed” (I’m not religious and have been happily living with my girl for years).

    The only circumstance in which marriage might be “necessary” is if not being married would cause you paralyzing guilt/shame/fear because of your beliefs/culture/family. In this case, it’s necessary because you/we made it necessary. (unlike other things like food, shelter, and love which are fundamental to your health)

  20. Rachel:

    No but I’d still like to. It’s not important because it’s clear from all the divorces in the world that it doesn’t necessarily mean love.

  21. sello:

    no.its jst to satisfy ur partner

  22. Anne:

    not NECESSARY, per se, cause people can be perfectly happy without ever being married. but it’s absolutely happy if people DO get married and have a long, loving relationship.

  23. jan:

    Absolutely not. Commitment? yes. A piece of paper from the govt. or mumbo jumbo from organized religion? – ha.

  24. not so:

    marriage is quite possibly the single most obnoxious ritual humanity has ever deemed a “need” by all accounts. it is literally a show and tell that has been infused with many, many generations of a romanticized view the attraction between a man and a woman. marriage is most certainly NOT a valid or even reasonable commitment. if two people benefit more by being with each other than they do by being apart, then they both will WANT to stay together. when one or the other decides that is not the case anymore, then he or she will WANT to separate. “licensing” two people to get married has more to do with taxes than the human emotion “love.” and to swear up and down in a specific type of building (church) that the two of you will always always always for ever and ever (blah blah blah) be joined together in matrimony is absolutely ignorant. bet you can’t guess which religion has the highest “failure” rate of all marriages…

  25. Hmm, Marriage ? Should we or should we not ? I, personally like to be alone ! Does Marriage removes that from the equation ? I think it does. I haven’t experienced it to say for sure !

  26. Riaan van der Westhuizen:

    I heard someone said, The reason why I am married is beacuse I will one day be able to give a testamony of how my husband lived his life. There is nothing in this world that can represent love as strongly as a man and a women being joined together. Our marriages are under attack and sadly so many people walk out on there loved ones, because if you’re not married you’ll grow to learn a person and after time you get bored, they walk out and find someone new. I would quarry any relationships if marriage is not a long term goal. We are humans, not animals that can walk out on people and have lots of sex. If you dissagree, listen to the testamony of people and you’ll find that deep down the single people are happy and content with being alone, but when you look deep down every person wants that experience and acknowledment that you are special, I want to spend my life with you. Their conscience will bare witness of this.

  27. Cass:

    Depends on the couple. Depends. I believe in it for myself…hopefully a long way from now. Singleness is underrated…it gives you the ability to move for a career. A career is the biggest move of being single, hopefully…and the freedom of being able to ebb and flow to the choices out there is total freedom. After that, after you are a whole single, then you will meet the right person for that full person. That’s what I think, because I am not whole yet…not where I want to be yet.

  28. philip thorn:

    no but why not

  29. Maya:

    Yes, its a final step for a couple. A promise who hopefully will last forever.

  30. Nick:

    I think so. Marriage for me, whether it is celebrated religiously or not, kinda reminds you to be faithful to that one person you’re marrying.

  31. Alice:

    No. But its want by so many people and its social norm cause it to seem necessary, where in face is not needed by anyone. For someone like me, who becomes scared and scarred from past traumas, it’s a need of security to be filled. It’s also somewhat of a rite of passage. When you’re married, you will most likely be recognized as an adult.

  32. Laurel:

    Not in general, but I kind of feel like I was just born to be someone’s partner and that wouldn’t be fully satisfied if I weren’t married to them.

  33. skyler:

    why do you need a piece of paper to declare you are going to be faithful forever? think about it.

  34. Joey:

    other then legal reasons, aka you die spouse gets your stuff, not really. in the words of my awesome gay friend “marriage is so gay”

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