'I don't think we have ever been happier because we both got rid of all that religion baggage'

Yea a guilt free society that allows people to do anything they like certainly makes some happy. Rapist, child abusers and murderers could all agree. As long as we are HAPPY! No wonder our prisons are full of people who have no shame for their crimes.

Dear Antiseptic,

I've just finished reading an article in, "The Australian Women's Weekly." June 2008 issue.

It seems that at least some males are more than willing to risk
marriage...

Farmers!

They're actively seeking women to marry.

I guess it depends on the individual male - doesn't it?

Women’s Weekly would say that wouldn’t they? In between peddling fear and gunk for your face, they offer snippets of hope (or is that just more fear mongering). What would farmers know about city girls and vice versa or conversely like? What kind of farms are we talking about here, hobby farms?

You’re too foxy for your skirt, too foxy by far.

Snake... getting rid of "all that religion" might have been a good move, because clearly it was not the real deal, which would have seen you overflowing with joy and gladness rather than wishing to relieve yourself of a burden.

I encourage you to consider discovering what a relationship with God is really about.. through Christ. Don't take my word for it, seek...and you will find.

Many a shakey marriage can become something beautiful through a close walk with Christ.

It is very easy to forget that the institution we describe as "marriage" has changed many times in the past, and there is absolutely no reason to think that it will not continue to change in the future.

There really is no correct answer to the question "what makes a good marriage", despite what the various parties, religious and non-religious, might protest. So there really is no point agonizing whether yours works or doesn't work.

Let's face it, only a few hundred years ago, it was a purely commercial transaction between families, who arranged the betrothal of their children with simple survival and economics in mind.

It didn't matter if you were landed entry or peasant, the idea that marriage involved such concepts as "love" and "being faithful" didn't enter the equation.

And a few thousand years before that, the phrase "'til death us do part" would have meant looking five years ahead, ten if you were lucky and fifteen, absolute tops.

To put it in perspective a little, this is worth a browse:

http://www.pflagsanjose.org/advocacy/hist.html

I particularly enjoyed this snippet:

"Under English common law, and in all American colonies and states until the middle of the 19th century, married women had no legal standing. They could not own property, sign contracts, or legally control any wages they might earn."

We've come a long way since then, eh?

And this was quite fun too:

"Throughout most of the 19th century, the minimum age of consent for sexual intercourse in most American states was 10 years. In Delaware it was only 7 years."

Comments, Boaz?

""women had no legal standing. They could not own property, sign contracts, or legally control any wages they might earn."
We've come a long way since then, eh?"

They also could not be forced to die a bloody death in wartime from a young age.