Expired Marriage?

As liberated as I am, I still remain conservative and idealistic about some issues in society. I am not embarrassed to say that. One thing that I have conservative views on is marriage.

For me, marriage should be a priviledge. It should be a priviledge for people who have prepared themselves for a married life. In a perfect society, all marriages would always work out and couples would stay together and grow old together. But we are not in a perfect society, and our status now is the closest that we can get to being perfect.

Recently, a women’s party-list group proposed for a 10-year expiration on marriages. I am not going to mention the name of the group because this is, after all, a personal blog. Yes, I get their intentions, and I know that they mean well. I just don’t support it.

Personally, I think it defeats the purpose of marriage. When people get married, they vow to God and their families that they will stay together for the rest of their lives. What’s the purpose of those vows if you can just get away from it all after 10 years? What’s the point of trying to make a marriage work if, at the back of your minds, you know that you don’t have to be stuck with it for life?

Yes, there may be so many marriages these days that do not work out and end up in separation. But there are also people who really wait for the right time, who really prepare themselves for a lifetime of commitment, and who really stay together and remain happy. My problem  with the proposal is that it generalizes marriages as one big problematic scene that needs an expiration date to end the misery.

I have nothing about the party-list who initiated this proposal. I totally empathize and understand wherever it is that they’re coming from. But I will never support this cause. I apologize if I offend anyone, but this is just what I believe in. A marriage is not just a legal obligation. It is also a commitment that you make in front of God, and while earthly laws may treat marriage differently, its sanctity never changes with Him.