31 Jan '08 09:29>
Originally posted by whodeyBecause 'the state' is supposedly 'of the people, for the people, by the people'. You seem to want to impose some Christian rules on everyone. If for example counseling is mandatory or even 'incentivized' who would do the counseling and to what aim? Who decides what a marriage should or should not be? Why do you think the that prospective partners should be counseled to marry for life? You have not yet shown that divorce is always a bad thing or that a marriage that does not last for life is bad. For example what is wrong with:
Why? People are coming to the state for a marriage license so the state has the right to call the shots. Any other attitude is one of entitlement. Don't get me wrong, many have the attitude of governmental entitlement covering a wide range of issues, however, I am not one.
1. A childless marriage coming to an end.
2. A couple who's children have grown up getting divorced.
3. A marriage for social / financial reasons.
4. A gay marriage.
In fact, since I suspect your main objection to divorce has to do with the raising of children, wouldn't it make more sense for counseling to be mandatory or incentivised before people have children? In fact nowadays, a significant number of people have children outside wedlock.