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Marriage

2020-05-20T20:21:50Z

ReaganJefferson: Intellectual honesty

[[Image:Bride and groom signing the book.jpg|right|275px]]
'''Marriage''' is the divinely ordained [[covenant]]<ref>Marriage between the sexes is a covenant, not a [[contract]]. Since time immemorial, some men disposed of a wife (woman) after her childbearing years to pursue a younger female consort. God, being a defender of women, ordained marriage by his perfect will to protect women's rights and not allow a man (male) to abandon them to homelessness and poverty with no marketable job skills other than homemaking or child rearing. This, however, is not the only reason the covenant of marriage evolved between the sexes.</ref> between two consenting adults (as opposed to Muslim child marriages), and is intended to be for life. (Genesis 2:24)<ref>See also [[Perfect will of God]] vs [[Permissive will of God]].</ref> This is recognized by the majority of churches.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a7.htm Article 7, "The sacrament of matrimony"]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp|title="Basic Beliefs," Southern Baptist Convention|accessdate=March 11, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/topics/relations_04_marriage.cfm|title="Marriage"}}</ref><ref>http://www.studylight.org/com/bnb/view.cgi?bk=39&ch=19 [[Albert Barnes]], Matthew 19]</ref><ref>[http://live.e-sword.net/app/ [[Matthew Henry]], Matthew 19]</ref>

The unity between those two involved in marriage is an expression of the spiritual relationship that God desires His creation to realize with Him. The first marriage occurred nearly 6,000 years ago in the [[Garden of Eden]], in the area of the world that we now know as the Middle East. The first couple was Adam and Eve, and the Lord Jesus specified that it was husband and wife that God joined together in marriage for life. (Matthew 19:4-6) See also: [[Christian marriage]]

Marriage has been practiced as such in most cultures across geography and time.<ref>"Because there is a natural complementarity between men and women - sexual, emotional, temperamental, spiritual - marriage allows for a wholeness and a completeness that is one of the greatest of its kind. ([[Bill Bennett]], ''The Broken Hearth'', Page 197)</ref>
Marriage is a lifelong commitment, and typically this involves a public ceremony (a [[wedding]]) in which vows are exchanged by the parties and before God or a civil authority. Approximately half of all traditional marriages in America end in [[divorce]],<ref>Divorce is within the permissive will of God, Deut. 22:13; divorce however, is due to sin entering the world, which God is willing to redeem. God himself in fact is divorced from Israel ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%203:8-14&version=KJV Jer. 3:8-14]; see also [http://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/isaiah/passage.aspx?q=isaiah+54:5-15 Is. 54:5]), or for that matter, all unredeemed sinners.</ref> many due to [[Facebook]] and other [[liberal]] activities.

[[Dinesh D'Souza]] wrote:
:Marriage requires a) two people who are b) of legal age and c) not closely related to each other who are d) one male and one female. Note that this definition excludes people who want to marry children, or guys who want to marry their sisters, or Muslims who want to take four wives, or that strange guy who wants to marry his dog.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://townhall.com/columnists/DineshDSouza/2008/05/19/gay_rights_vs_democracy|title=Gay Rights vs. Democracy|accessdate=March 11, 2020}}</ref>

[[Bill Bennett]] wrote:
:Based as it is on the principle of [[complementarity]], marriage is also about a great deal more than love. That "great deal" encompasses, above all, [[procreation]]. The timeless function of marriage is childbearing, child-rearing, and happiness of those in the family, and the best arrangement ever developed to that end is the marital union between two people ...<ref>''The Broken Hearth'', Page 197)</ref>

What Bennett's words ultimately imply is that, in terms of the value of marriage to anything which stands outside of it, marriage is most principally for the production of additional marriages, and, thus, is a progressive type of [[scale-invariance]] such as the Mandelbrot fractal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dectech.org/publications/LinksNick/FoundationsTheoryAndMethodology/Scale-invariance%20as%20a%20unifying%20psychological%20principle.pdf|title=Scale-invariance as a unifying psychological principle; 1999|accessdate=March 11, 2020}}</ref>

So, marriage is the most glorious kind of relation between human individuals because it alone is what most essentially defines humanity. The ''good'' of humanity is defined as an integration of all naturally enduring mutual benefits between all free individuals. But, all those benefits are created-and-sustained by the existence of marriage as that one relation for the preservation of which is invoked the most special legal recognition, because...

...'''Marriage not only historically is the very first form of human society, it is logically the most beautiful, perfect, simple, and potentially productive human institution possible.'''

==Biblical marriage advice==
1 Corinthians 7:1-16:
{{cquote|Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But this I say by way of concession, not of command. Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife. But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?}}

==Modern marriage licenses==
In the present-day [[United States]], "getting married" typically involves a marriage license issued by the [[state]] [[government]] or a subdivision thereof (e.g., a county). However, marriage licenses are nowhere mentioned in Scripture; in fact, they are a relatively recent innovation and originally applied only to marriages that were otherwise forbidden.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mercyseat.net/BROCHURES/marriagelicense.htm|title=Information on marriage licenses from Mercy Seat Christian Church|accessdate=March 11, 2020}}</ref>

==Definition of marriage==

For Christians, marriage has traditionally been seen as "a union that takes its distinctive character from being founded, unlike other friendships, on bodily unity of the kind that sometimes generates new life."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/marriage/mf0123.htm|title=Gay Marriage, Democracy, and the Courts|accessdate=March 11, 2020}}</ref> As such, marriage is respected as one of the most well-known ways that couples form.

==Modern history of marriage law==

*1724 — blacks, with permission of their slave owner, given the right to marry (formerly, under [[British]] law, only whites could legally marry)
*1769 — women no longer considered property of their husbands
*1899 — polygamy outlawed in the US
*1967 — interracial marriage legalized in all states
*1981 — rise of community property laws as men no longer seen as the sole owner of all marital assets
*2015 — same-sex marriage legalized as part of the civil rights movement

==Attacks on the institution of marriage==
Any society which has lessened the sanctity of marriage has perished, whereas those that have upheld the sanctity of marriage have endured. It has been argued that Ancient Rome's decline and its eventual fall in A.D. 476 were due in no small part to a growing tolerance of extramarital sex, particularly of immoral acts, beginning in the Late Republic period ending in 27 B.C.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/11-02-2011/116875-homosexuality-0/|title=Is there anyone left to defend traditional marriage?|accessdate=March 11, 2020}}</ref>. However, this historical conclusion is criticized widely, and there are many other potential reasons that Rome fell.

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, there is no approval of [[sexual intercourse]] other than between a married couple. Anything which tolerates or permits [[immorality]] weakens society.

Since the middle of the 20th century, [[Liberalism]] has sought to dismantle the societal pressures that dissuade people from engaging in extramarital and [[premarital sex]]. Removing the stigma from these behaviors, creating no-fault [[divorce]] laws\, rejuvenating, and "stimulating", and especially the de-stigmatizing of [[homosexuality]] all have changed marriage.

A recent ''Newsweek'' article complained that [[Biblical figures]] have not provided good historical examples of marriage, noting that [[Abraham]] begat [[Ishmael]] by a maidservant and [[Jacob]] had [[polygamy|two wives]] and had sons with both of their [[concubine|servants]]. The article also criticizes [[Jesus]] and [[St. Paul]] for remaining single.<ref>http://www.newsweek.com/id/172653/page/1</ref>

== Atheism and marriage ==
[[File:Vox Day.jpg|thumbnail|right|180px|[[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] declared that according to the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) "more than half of all atheists and [[agnosticism|agnostics]] don’t get married."<ref>https://creation.com/atheism</ref>]]
''See also:'' [[Atheism and marriage]] and [[Atheist marriages]] and [[Atheism and divorce]]

Christian apologist Michael Caputo wrote:
{{cquote|Recently the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has published its mammoth study on Religion in America based on 35,000 interviews... According to the Pew Forum a whopping 37% of atheists never marry as opposed to 19% of the American population, 17% of Protestants and 17% of Catholics.<ref>https://creation.com/atheism</ref>}}

[[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] declared that according to the 2001 [[American Religious Identification Survey]] (ARIS) "more than half of all atheists and [[agnosticism|agnostics]] don’t get married."<ref>https://creation.com/atheism</ref>

The fertility rate is significantly lower in the atheist population (see: [[Atheism and fertility rates]]).

Furthermore, the [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] Ken Ammi wrote in his atheism article at [[Creation Ministries International]]:
{{cquote|“According to Barna, ‘Forty-two percent of adults who associate with a faith other than Christianity had co-habited, while atheists were the most likely to do so (51%).

“It is critical to stress that it is a well known fact that cohabiters experience a very high number of ‘breakups’ before getting married. ‘Millions of people … believe that cohabitation is a prelude to marriage. And for many, it is. However, Smock reports that 45% of cohabitations break up with no marriage. Another 10% continue cohabiting.’

“Barna did not include this enlightening fact in his research. Thus, if 21% of atheists divorce after marriage, and 45 % break up once or more before marriage, what we have is the astounding rate of about 66% of atheist couples experiencing ‘at least’ one break up. If, however, the number is 37%, then we have a shocking figure of 82% …

“What needs mentioning is the fact that many atheists do not cohabit as a prelude to marriage. They in fact see cohabitation as ‘equivalent’ to any marriage relationship … These break ups were not included in the Barna research …

“The appellation ‘Christian’ a Christian does not make. There are great numbers of people in this world who call themselves ‘Christians’ but have never internalized the teachings of Jesus Christ." …
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://creation.com/atheism|title=Atheism = Mario Grinbank - Creation Ministries International|accessdate=March 11, 2020|publisher=[[Creation Ministries International]]}}</ref>}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==See also==
* [[Form of Solemnization of Matrimony]]
* [[Fidelity]]
* [[Gedankenexperiment#Marriage vs. Homosexual Life-style|Marriage vs. Homosexual Life-style]]
* [[Civil marriage]]
* [[Arranged marriage]]
* [[Marriage in the Unification Church]]
* [[Agamist]]
* [[Oath Keepers]]
* [[Ten Commandments]]
* [[Sacrament]]
* [[Ex opere operato and ex opere operantis]]
* [[Atheism and marriage]]
*[[Ben Shapiro]]

==External links==
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/marriage/ What Liberals Say - Category: Marriage], [[Accuracy In Media]]
* [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1722155 What Is Marriage?; 2010 paper by Girgis, George, & Anderson]

[[Category:Marriage|*]]
[[Category:Catholic Church Sacraments]]
[[Category:Christian Rites]]
[[Category:Oaths]]
[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:Sexual Morality]]
[[Category:Religion]]

Mystery:Does God Have a Sense of Humor?

2020-05-20T19:59:31Z

ReaganJefferson: Intellectual honesty

[[Image:Campaign sign Mendham NJ 2018.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Campaign sign of the real candidate Robert Crook, posted throughout Mendham, NJ, in Oct. 2018.]]
[[Image:Michelangelo creation-of-sun-and-moon.jpg|alt=creationism|right|thumb|250px|"But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them." - [[Psalm]] 2:4 (ESV)]]
TL;DR: Technically yes. Spiritually no.
Much humor is poking fun at how seriously people take themselves, which may reflect [[God]]'s laughing at man. [[Proverbs 1-8 (Translated)#8:31|Proverbs 8:31]] states that [[God]] finds amusement with the human race. Also, a humble, self-deprecating willingness to "turn the other cheek" as urged by the [[Bible]] is an essential part of a sense of humor, and something many [[liberal]]s lack. Here are some examples of humor that could first be for God's amusement, then man's:

*'''Political Scandals''': liberals once criticized General David Petraeus by calling him "General Betray Us"; President Obama subsequently appointed him as head of the CIA, whereupon he caused scandal that betrayed liberals by embarrassing them. So perhaps liberals were right that time.
*'''Football''': [[Tim Tebow]]'s completion of ten passes for 316 yards, at 31.6 yards per competition, in his stunning playoff victory against the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]], echoed his promotion of [[John 1-7 (Translated)#Chapter 3|John 3:16]] and caused a million searches on the internet for that verse.
*'''Politics''': within weeks after [[Barack Obama]] was sworn in as president in 2009, Obama-supporter [[Bruce Springsteen]] was the half-time performer at the [[Super Bowl]]. His most famous song is "Born in the U.S.A.," but he did not even perform it, presumably because that is an unwanted controversy about Obama.
*'''Names''': remarkable skills or traits are associated with people who have unusual names to match. The current heavyweight boxing champ (2020 WBC title) is an undefeated fighter named Tyson Fury, his first name at birth inspired by the legendary boxer and his last name speaks for itself. The largest toll evader in [[Pennsylvania]] -- $127,967.40 including fines—is a man named Jarrett Stiff.<ref>https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/pas-worst-toll-evader-named-stiff-to-pay-up-dollar128k-in-all/ar-AAARiwP?OCID=ansmsnnews11</ref> A reporter for [[CNN]] who was so confrontational that the [[White House]] attempted to exclude him has the name "Jim Acosta." A star wide receiver for the NFL Dallas Cowboys is named "Michael Gallup." Jaime Sin was such an extraordinary priest that he was elevated to the esteemed position of "Cardinal", making him "Cardinal Sin."<ref>http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bsin.html</ref> Other examples include "Usain Bolt" (the fastest sprinter in world history), "Learned Hand" (one of the finest judges in history), "Michael Arms" (an [[2012 Summer Olympics|Olympic]] rower from [[New Zealand]]),<ref>https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/2012/athletes/047f7705-2b90-4267-94da-e2c02de08d98</ref> "Billy Sunday" (one of the most famous [[Christian]] preachers in [[America]]n history), "Richie Incognito" (an [[NFL]] all-Pro offensive lineman who made headlines for badgering a teammate),<ref>http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5002565</ref> "Marcus Smart" (a star basketball player who did the not-so-smart shoving of a fan who heckled him during a game),<ref>http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2014-02-09/marcus-smart-suspension-length-punishment-shove-push-fan-oklahoma-state-texas-tech-video-return-out</ref> "Lester Wire" (inventor of the first electric traffic signal),<ref>http://www.examiner.com/article/salt-lake-original-the-electric-traffic-signal</ref> and "[[George McGovern]]" (a former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate). Also, there are many whites named "Black" and many African Americans named "White". Russell Brain was a famous neurologist whose textbook, ''Brain's Diseases of the Nervous System'', is still in wide use. The consonants of the name of longtime [[RNC]] Chairman [[Reince Priebus]] spell "RNC P.R. B.S."
*'''Nutty Theories''': the originator of the "Oxfordian theory" that the Earl of Oxford was the secret author of [[Shakespeare]]'s poems and plays was a [[British]] schoolteacher named "J. Thomas Looney."<ref>https://heyprof.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/oxfordian-theory-of-shakespeare-authorship.pdf</ref>
*'''[[John 1-7 (Translated)#2:1|The Wedding at Cana]]''': it was a huge ''faux pas'' for the host to run out of wine, leaving the guests stranded with nothing to drink (the water was probably not drinkable), but the last laugh was by the servants and [[Jesus]] when they gave a welcomed surprise to the host without explaining the source.
*'''Implausible Absurdities''': the election outcome for the 2000 presidential election was implausibly close in [[Florida]], and apparently [[Al Gore]] lost because some [[Democrat]] voters in a predominantly Jewish area misread the "butterfly ballot" and ended up voting for [[Pat Buchanan]] who is believed to be anti-Semitic.
*'''Logic''': man has a sense of humor, and man was created in the image of [[God]]. Hence God has a sense of humor.
*'''History''': man's sense of humor improved with the discovery and expansion of Christianity, which indicates their strong correlation. [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], after attacking Jesus and God in the last books he would ever write, went insane.
*'''Sociology''': the massive carvings of caricatures of human beings found, without a plausible explanation, on [[Easter Island]].
*'''Political [[atheist]]s''': atheistic political figures are known for their lack of a sense of humor, such as [[Attila the Hun]] and [[Adolf Hitler]], which suggests that the opposite of God is a lack of sense of humor
*'''Religious''': the encounter on the road to Emmaus, described at [[Luke 17-24 (Translated)#Chapter 24|Luke 25:13-31]], strongly suggests that God has intervened in amusing ways; also, God sometimes uses [[sarcasm]], as in [[Amos (Translated)#Chapter 4|Amos 4:4]].
*'''Scientific''': snowstorms have disrupted [[global warming]] conferences; regions that promote the [[global warming]] hoax have been subjected to brutally cold weather and record-breaking snowstorms.
*'''Zoology''': there are various animals, such as the duck-billed platypus, the cheeky monkey or the long-necked giraffe, that seem designed in order to amuse.
*'''[[Atheism]]''': atheistic nations like [[North Korea]] are known for their lack of a sense of humor.
[[File:Richard Dawkins photo.jpg|alt=Richard Dawkins|thumbnail|250px|right|The movie ''[[The Atheist Delusion]]'' features the [[New Atheism|new atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]] being the object of audience laughter due to something unreasonable he said.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChWiZ3iXWwM The Atheist Delusion Movie (2016) HD]</ref> Dawkins indignantly asked the audience, "Why is that funny?".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChWiZ3iXWwM The Atheist Delusion Movie (2016) HD]</ref> See also: [[Atheism and humor]] ]]
*'''[[Ontological Argument|Ontological]]''': God is defined as the greatest being conceivable, and it's better to have a sense of humor than not; therefore God has a sense of humor.
*'''Intrinsic Humor''': some humor is funny to virtually everyone who has a sense of humor - which would be impossible in the absence of intrinsic humor. Yet intrinsic humor would be impossible unless God appreciated it also.
*'''Contradictions and Disbelief''': contradictions and surprise are the essence of humor, and God's allowance of their basis to continue to exist suggests that God may find amusement in it.
*'''Landmarks''': the historic building for the [[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]] is named after its longtime Judge John Minor Wisdom - not major wisdom, but minor wisdom.
*'''Media''': Within weeks after the [[lamestream media]] made the unlikely claim that [[Fidel Castro]]—who had not been seen in public since the frail dictator went to a hospital for a very grave condition in July 2006—had met the [[Pope]], a five-day suspension was imposed on [[Florida Marlins]] manager Ozzie Guillen for expressing admiration that Fidel Castro has such longevity.
*'''Inexplicable Humor''': [[liberals]] in [[Colorado]] wanted to expel the successful, but outspokenly [[Christian]], [[Tim Tebow]], but he ended up in a much bigger media market as a result, and received even more publicity.
*'''Dreams''': some dreams might be God playing a trick for amusement purposes on you.
*'''The Bible''': see [[humor in the Bible]]
*'''Idolatry''': some who idolize [[Obama]] think that he is an atheist, when in fact he is likely a [[Muslim]]
*'''Miracle Catch of Fish''' (John 21:1-25) - God chose to reveal himself in a humorous by telling the fishermen, who had unsuccessfully tried all night to catch a fish, to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, which nearly broke the net with such a large catch of fish.
*'''[[Adultery]]''': The seventh commandment Thou shalt not commit adultery shows God has a sense of humor because when a womanizer from Arkansas had an affair with Miss [[Monica Lewinsky]] he tarnished his presidential reputation and created a field day for conservatives.

== Secular left, humor and hypocrisy ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism and humor]] and [[Atheist hypocrisy]] and [[Essay:Comedy and satires concerning atheism and evolution]]

Although the [[secular left]] is known for ridiculing [[religion]] since at least the time of [[French Revolution]] (see: [[Atheism and mockery]]), the secular left is known for its humorlessness when it comes to others mocking of its ideology (See also: [[Atheism and humor]] and [[Atheism and intolerance]]).

== References ==

<references/>
[[Category:Mystery]]
[[Category:Theology]]
[[Category:Humor]]