Why can't they marry? Always wondered that.
Living together is extremely classless and cheap to me. There is no difference between animals and unmarried couples who live together.
Discuss.
I think there is a larger picture if we get out of the notion that "Let people do whatever they want to do as long as it doesn't harm you". Which is mostly true but perhaps not always.
There is much more of a broader scenario that effects an entire society as a whole.
In my personal opinion, the sexual intimacy (which is obviously a natural human need) comes with a baggage if you take the religious guidance.
And that baggage is "commitment and monogamy" ESPECIALLY on the males.
Such couples are encouraged in general to stay committed more strongly, and work towards forming a strongly knitted family.
This commitment and monogamy between couples not only has an effect on the couples themselves, but also it hugely effects the society in which such couples live.
On the other hand, couples can remove or dilute this condition of trying to be "strongly committed and monogamous", and jump straight into sexual intimacy.
So if we are to compare two societies where a majority lives as unmarried couples with little to no commitment vs a society where couples try to be monogamous and committed, then perhaps we may be looking at two very different pictures.
And who suffers or benefits the most? Believe it or not, it starts with the kids.
Lets take the example of Brazil, and look the number of homeless children. The number of such children (up to 8 million kids in the streets) is not only staggering but their living conditions are even worse.
Philippines is another mind boggling example where the sexual abuse on millions of homeless kids is so widespread that the govt, instead of trying to curb problem, passed a law that brings down the minimum sexual consent age to just 12 years. And no wonder pedophiles love to flock to Philippines.
How do you think such a society will look like when such kids become grown ups and they form the majority of population in a few decades?
In a different way, this social problem is wide spread in countries like USA as well.
Besides 2 million homeless kids, there are 100 and thousands of kids either living in foster homes or waiting to be put with a foster family. The physical and mental abuse, many of these poor kids go through is horrendous.
The less monogamous society may also have a higher chance of widely spread STD's.
You come back and argue that unmarried couples should practice safe sex and not have off-springs? well, tell that to people in Brazil, Philippines, USA and many other countries that are going through this excruciating pain of broken homes and broken families, and millions of unmarried couples living together.
(yes drug abuse also contributes A LOT in forming the shape of a society - but that's a different topic)
And here is the gist of this for those who still think that it's only a "piece of paper".
The off springs of animals are naturally designed to know and do many things on their own. They naturally know how to survive in the wild once they grow up. Birds know how to build a nest without anyone teaching or training them. They know to feed their off springs, they know how to get shelter, they know how to migrate from one weather condition to another one etc.
On the other hand, human off-springs require A LOT of training. We are born with almost a blank brain. Aside from protection, food and shelter, human kids need to be taught almost EVERYTHING. They need to be sent to schools to learn different traits and develop skills that help survive better in the human society. They need to taught on how to talk, present themselves, use intelligence and logic to tackle various day to day life scenarios. LOL HECK, we even need to be taught on how to wipe our rear end after taking # 2.
But more importantly, unlike animals in the wild, humans need to make choices everyday. And they need training for that.
So no, humans and animals are not the same. That "piece of paper" makes a tremendous difference.
On the other hand, in a society where couples are strongly committed with a marriage bond (that piece of paper) where they try their best to go through thin and thick and form a closely knitted family; the kids get the benefit and enjoy a lot more protected, loved and nourishing environment. And hence such a society may have an entire different picture.
Obviously, there are exceptional cases in both scenarios so please don't waste time in coming back with such an example.
My personal view on this is that, I am not against anyone deciding how do they want to live their life. Obviously, everyone is free; however, there are unseen repercussions of some of our actions.
I believe, we should make wise choices because in the end, we will be responsible for our choices made on free will.