Marriage wars?
The Conservative leader David Cameron wants to . The Education Secretary Alan Johnson (who was raised by his sister) wants the government to recognise that a traditional marriage is not a pre-requisite of . And Unicef Britain is failing its children. On today's Sunday Sequence, we debated some of the issues with little agreement about how the government should respond. Should tax credits and other benefits "follow" traditional marriage? Matthew Parris was unhappy with that proposal, since it means in practice that we penalise non-traditional families for simply "being". Vi Dawson thinks secularisation underwrites the crisis in marriage. Others would point to more prosaic factors: we're simply living much longer these days and many of us will form more than one relationship in a longer lifetime; and there is no longer any stigma attached to relationship break-ups any more.
Should we be concerned about the fact that more and more people are living together before marriage -- or avoiding the institution of marriage altogether? Or is Alan Johnson right to focus on the quality of parenting in our society rather than the number marriage certificates?
Comments
why do christians think marriage is the only way to have a relationship in this world? I am gay and i dont want to even get a civil partnership. i dont need a certificate to approve of my relationship. ive been with my boyfriend for 4 years and we are talking about adopting. we've a house, mortgage, 2 cars - just like a lot of others. we could take care of a kid who needs a home. i work in social care and my bf is a doctor. we're decent people who love each other and want to help a kid who is in care at present, or a child with a disability who isnt getting adopted by straight couples. why should our relationship be treated any differently? my bf and i are church of ireland, we go every sunday and are very involved. our priest is very supportive.
test
test
strange how nobody on the programme noticed how the current taxation system is biased AGAINST marriage.
ie you are much better under the current regime if you are not married, but strange how nobody minds this type of bias, just the possibility of it swinging the other way.
PB
Question; Why do married men live longer than single men?
Answer; They don't, it just seems that way.
Question; Why do married men live longer than single men?
Answer; They don't, it just seems that way.
why shouldn't marriage and non-get marrige get equal treatment in taxation terms?
otherwise it is prejudice against marriage?
everyone missed this point on SS while they were leaping to defend non-traditional families.
As Cameron said, it is no slur on single parents who have a very very difficult job to say marriage is best for children.
he noted unmarried cohabiters tend not to saty together very long, excacerbating single parent pressures; how good is that for children?
I am married with 2 kids and know several single parents and I can tell you they do not hide it is very difficult. what is wrong about being open about that?
PB
Guess who gave the Sunday Sequence programme a ripping during Sunday morning’s service, Sunday 4th March.