From: TURTLE              
To: HACMAN              
Subject: Marriage & stuf
Date & Time: 04/30/91 02:32:07
Message Number 16333

I am afraid you missed my point. Yes, I believe that a "good" marriage,
one that involves two people who are truly committed to one another,
and are trusting, and so on can exist. I also believe that such a
relationship can exist without marriage.
 
My point had nothing to do with an inability to conceive of a good
marriage. My point is just the opposite, in fact: Marriage is primarily
a social convention. In a society where that convention holds little
or no meaning, there is simply no reason to get married. Why, pray
tell, should I get married? To demonstrate my commitment? Marriage is
no longer functionally a demonstration of commitment. To ensure that
my children, should I have them, grow up in a stable environment? There
are enough people out there, and even enough people ON THIS BULLETIN
BOARD, who have grown up in the splinters of a fragmented marriage to
demonstrate that marriage is no such thing. So what does that leave?
As a tax break? No; I have too much respect for what a marriage /should/
be to get married for economic reasons. Why, then, should I marry?
Marriage is a social artifact that has, functionally, lost its meaning.