By Katrina RoeFriday 9 Aug 2013RelationshipsReading Time: 2 minutes
With all the discussion taking place about marriage rights, it is timely to ask questions about the role of marriage in modern society.
Audio – Brett Ryan from Focus on the Family on the concept of marriage
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Lawyer Paul Campbell, writing for the Washington Post, and reprinted in the Sydney Morning Herald, argues that the high rate of divorce is evidence that the legal structure of marriage is no longer relevant and needs to adapt to the times.
He suggests borrowing a model from real estate and creating a system of ‘wedleases’ – shorter, fixed term agreements that can be renewed at the end of the term or could simply expire. “The messiness of divorce is avoided and the end can be as simple as vacating a rental unit,” he writes.
Wife and expectant mother, Claire Lehmann, also wants to talk about marriage. Her opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald argues that marriage may have social justice benefits for families and particularly, for children. She says that as a woman expecting a baby, she needs to be able to depend on her husband, because her baby will be entirely dependent on her.
Brett Ryan is the CEO of Focus on the Family, an organisation that exists to strengthen and support marriages and families. He talks to Hope Mornings about whether the concept of marriage is broken and what could be done to fix it.
More Information
- SMH article on Wedleases
- SMH devaluation of marriage costing society