Posted on 04/30/2011 2:38:35 PM PDT by marshmallow
The Archbishop of York has given his backing to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s decision to live together before marriage.
The Archbishop of York backed Prince William and Kate Middleton’s decision to live together before marriage, saying that many modern couples want to “test the milk before they buy the cow”.
Dr John Sentamu argued that the royal couple’s public commitment to live their lives together today would be more important than their past.
But Anglican traditionalists criticised the Archbishop, the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, for failing to reinforce Christian teaching which prohibits sex outside marriage.
The row came as Prince William and Kate Middleton unveiled their choices for the royal wedding service, which include classically British music and hymns, and an updated choice of marriage vows in which the bride omits the word “obey”.
In a television interview, Dr Sentamu was asked whether it was appropriate for the Prince, who is in line to become head of the Church of England as King, to have been living with his bride before marriage.
He said he had conducted wedding services for “many cohabiting couples” during his time as a vicar in south London.
“We are living at a time where some people, as my daughter used to say, they want to test whether the milk is good before they buy the cow,” he said. “For some people that’s where their journeys are.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
"Journey" is one of those words that catches my ear when it is used by religious leaders. There is some truth to the fact that all Christians are (or are supposed to be) on a journey towards greater holiness, but I get the feeling that the term is in lieu of discerning right from wrong.
As for the cow metaphor, what the Archbishop is saying is that men should take women on "test drives" to see if they like having sex with them enough to get married to them -- a kind of test period during which women can be expected to perform to men's expectations in order to be rewarded with the love and security women crave.
It's rather disgusting when you think about the reality of the situation.
Very sound advice...
My wife and I lived together for a couple of years before marriage. Three kids and 25 years later, we're still together.
William and Kate have some strong incentives to stay together and produce some heirs. Then again, so did Charles and Di.
There are ways of discerning the character of an individual that don't involve the exchange of body fluids.
What kind of parent wants a man to "try out" his daughter's vagina before committing to love and cherish her?
American Sociological Review, 1988, Vol 53: 127-138) entitled, “Commitment and the Modern Union: Assessing the Link Between Premarital Cohabitation and Subsequent Marital Stability.
Author in this study found that the risk of divorce after living together is 80% higher than the risk of divorce after not living together.
If you google cohabitation and divorce rates you will come up with a lot of data that backs this up.
Please link to that study, because everything I've ever read on this topic points to the exact opposite.
As couples say they decided to not marry someone after living with them for a period of time, they discovered faults and traits about their mate that would have resulted in a divorce. Such as infidelity, lying, hiding serious secrets or in many cases substance abuse habits and abusive traits.
Things one can only find out after living together or marriage.
You wrote:
“I find it hard to know that today any people do not live together before marriage”
Maybe you should meet some better people.
Some stats for you: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive/ldn/2009/jul/09071502
Here are some statistics on living together before marriage from Michael McManus, author of the book Marriage Savers. Statistically speaking, living together is not a trial of marriage, but rather a training for divorce.
The number of unmarried couples living together soared 12-fold from 430,000 in 1960 to 5.4 million in 2005.
More than eight out of ten couples who live together will break up either before the wedding or afterwards in divorce.
About 45 percent of those who begin cohabiting, do not marry. Another 5-10 percent continue living together and do not marry.
Couples who do marry after living together are 50% more likely to divorce than those who did not.
Only 12 percent of couples who have begun their relationship with cohabitation end up with a marriage lasting 10 years or more.
A Penn State study reports that even a month’s cohabitation decreases the quality of the couple’s relationship.
It just occurred to me, gee, if an 18 year old boy was to move in and bed his young girlfriend, prior to marriage...do you really think he is thinking...’I just want to see if we’re c-o-m-p-a-t-i-b-l-e’?
heheh, I thinketh not.
Here are some more statistics relating to the children of cohabiting parents.
Children of cohabiting parents are ten times more likely to be sexually abused by a stepparent than by a parent.
Children of cohabiting parents are three times as likely to be expelled from school or to get pregnant as teenagers than children from an intact home with married parents.
Children of cohabiting parents are five times more apt to live in poverty, and 22 times more likely to incarcerated.
some can but leaving the seat up leaving the toothpaste top off, leaving socks on the ground , finding out she can’t cook, he doesn;t do anything but eat in bed
You need to cite your source and link it, simply spouting off numbers isn’t gonna fly here.
WTF, HUH, are you serious?
got a link please?
Why even open a Bible these days?
Your right, but then again an 18 year old has about as much business marrying as I do commanding the space shuttle.
you got a link from a source which is not a religious one please
you got a link from a source which is not a religious one please
I would like a link which does not come from a source which promotes their view please, that way it can be more useful to argue the point
“It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt”?
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