[pieceofthepuzzle]

“With this kind of reverence for the sacrament of marriage, is it any wonder there is such a high divorce rate?”

While I agree, I think there are many reasons why the divorce rate is high. One is that I think some people have lost sight of the importance of the simple things in life, like just being together. Joy comes from within, and it’s hard to share joy with someone else if you aren’t happy and well grounded to some extent before marriage. I also think that some increase in the divorce rate over what it was 50 years ago is probably good (though not to the extent it is now). I say this because of the many years I watched my mother and father diminish each other.

[bdeaner]

I was not suggesting there is a causal relationship between a bride dressing like a slut and the failure of marriage in contemporary society. I think it's actually a sign of something much deeper, along the lines of what you have pointed out. It's the symptom of the de-sacrilization of marriage, on the one hand, and a misunderstanding of the true function of marriage, on the other. Double failure.

First, marriage isn't about being madly in love with another person. That's the easy part. Marriage is about creating and sustaining a family, and in that function serving as the foundation of culture and society. When marriage loses its place and function, then the next step is the loss of the sacred aspects of the ceremony that marks its beginning: an outward sign of the degeneraiton of the meaning of marriage, sacramentally. At that point, what's the big deal with gay marriage? Heck, why not marry a goat if that's what you're into?