Is marriage a dying institute?

I believe marriage is no longer sacred and honorable. In today's immoral climate marriage certainly has been degraded very much.

@multiversatility.... the sacred marriage institution is changing because of humans, not because of God. Jehovah's standards and laws governing marriage and the sacredness of it has not changed.

@seotelkniwt: Marriage has a lot longer and more varied history than most people know. Marriage has been a way for women to ensure protection for themselves and their children in a violent world. It has been a way for men to control women, gain property, and ensure that their offspring were actually their own genetic stock. It has been a social contract to cement alliances between families, or between countries. There has been monogamy and polygyny (multiple wives) and polyandry (multiple husbands) and more. And, yes, it has been a religious institution as well, practiced by followers of Judaism and Christianity and Islam and Zoroastrianism and Shintoism and Hinduism and ... well by probably the majority of human religions in one form or another. Not one of those groups has ever had a monopoly on marriage, and every society defines it to suit their needs. Actually, expecting to be in love with your spouse is a relatively new concept.

Perhaps marriage is changing away from your preferred definition, but that doesn't mean that it isn't still sacred to those who believe it is or honorable for those who hold honor in esteem. It's just that more people everywhere are beginning to understand that love and marriage are not one-size-fits-all phenomena, and that everyone deserves the chance to have the life that makes them happy.

@multiversality: thanks for the history lesson. It is obvious from changing human trends that the real sanctity and sacredness of marriage from God's standpoint has been watered down and viewed as just a piece of paper, from man's standards. It's not about how different cultures celebrate or view or practice marriage, its about what God, Jehovah, says how marriage should be viewed, practiced and held as sacred according to His recommendations and standards. Not the latest, constantly changing trends.

@seotelkniwt: Which is fine for you, and for those who share your beliefs. The rest of us have our own ideas of what marriage is and what it ought to be.

Personally, I don't think anyone outside of a particular relationship has any right to say whether it counts as a marriage or not.

@multiversality: God has the right and final say as to whether a union of two people counts as a marriage. Not a human. If a person takes issue with that, that's something they must take up with Jehovah, not the messenger. :)

@seotelkniwt: The big problem with that point of view is that there are so many different opinions about what "God" wants. Or even about who or what or if "God" is. You have your view; I have mine; the next guy probably thinks something entirely different. And no one can actually prove that they are right and everyone else is wrong.

@multiversality: the Bible is an excellent, accurate guide for revealing the existence of God and an excellent, practical guide that shows what a marriage should be like according to God's standards and not human viewpoints.

@seotelkniwt: The problem with that argument is that only Christians will agree with you, and there are a LOT of us out here in the world that are NOT Christians. You are perfectly welcome to believe in the Bible if you want, but you can't prove that it has any actual authority outside of your faith, and you can't expect us to think as highly of it as you do. So your argument doesn't hold water in the real world.

@seotelkniwt: That is your "Human" view point.