Sometimes I am flipping the channels on the tv and run across TMZ Live. It is a spin off of the regular TMZ, celebrity spotting/news show with Harvey Levin.
Anyway, at the end of TMZ Live they always take viewer questions.
Well, the other day, not on any particular topic, a viewer posted that she believes that marriages should no longer be life long commitments, but instead five year contracts. And no divorce may be warranted during that five year stretch. If you get married, you agree to five years, period. And once the five years is up, you meet with an attorney or mediator to renegotiate your marital terms or are granted a divorce.
First, I have to say that my best guess is this lady is not currently married. I mean, really. A five year contract? Could you image the outcry this would cause among the religious community? And not to mention the outcry this would cause among the justice system? You mean to tell me that if your husband is beating you, you have to wait for the five years to be up to divorce him?
Second, I have not been married five years yet. Almost. But not yet. And what I have learned over the not-yet-five years that I have been married, is that my marriage has changed, a lot, since we first got married. We are not the same people we were back then. And I would not know what to renegotiate from year one to year five in hopes of making it to year ten. It doesn't work like that. When you marry someone, you agree to be flexible and to be bonded to that person regardless of change.
This five year contract vs. life long commitment brings up an interesting point about the separation of church and state. Society is trying so hard these days to keep the two so separate, but in reality, marriages force church and state to work together.
I think I will stick with the life long plan. Anyone can commit five years to you I think. But only one other person can commit his whole life to you.
