The Down Side of Cohabitation

[Bluesky]

What is significant about this article is that it is from The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/op..._r=4&src=rechp

[The Handyman]

There is no down side. I didn't read the article and I don't have to read it. Marriage is a religious function, not a social function. People that live this way are the happiest people in the world, ... they may not go to heaven, but they don't really care, .... deal with it!

[Jack Butler]

....that you have to log in to read it!

[Nihilistic Heathen]

Actually you don't, you just need to do a little digging to find it.

[RWGR]

There is no down side. I didn't read the article and I don't have to read it. Marriage is a religious function, not a social function.

It's both. It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive to one or the other.

Time and time again we see how an intact nuclear family is the best way to raise a family. Simply look at all the data compiled by the U.S. Government on the breakdown of the family over the last fifty years. There has been a breakdown in societal norms, and the correlation fits perfectly with the breakdown of the family. The greater familial dysfunction in a society, the greater the social problems in society. That is not mere coincidence.

If you take your marriage vows seriously then you are in a much stronger situation than someone that decides to move in with their significant other, and hope for the best; and I say this as someone that moved in with his significant other and simply hoped for the best.

In societal terms, marriage is a contract. No person of even somewhat goodwill wants to violate a contract. In religious terms, marriage is a covenant (and a sacrament, in Roman Catholic circles). No person wants to violate a covenant or sacrament.

Now, do things happen that warrant the end of a marriage? Of course. We are human, we fail. But today's problem is that we dissolve marriages and relationships on any old whim. "Uncompatible" What the hell does that even mean??

Marriage and commitment is a foundational stone to any society. Want to know if a society is collapsing? Look at its marriage and divorce rates.

[The Handyman]

So is cheating on your spouse worse if you are married than if your are just shacked up? I don't think it is any less hurtful to either. Aside from sexual and companionship solidarity, what else can one expect from either? People shouldn't have marriage shoved down their throats. Life is too short to worry about some idiotic covenant or contract.

[Soundbear]

Shacked up guys, get your women to honestly tell us what they would REALLY prefer.