By Todd Crouthamel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 9, 1998

Only love makes marriage 'holy'

This letter is in response to Matt Garabrants defense of marriage as a "holy institution" ("Columnist a part of 'trashy society'," Mar. 5). Marriage has never been such an institution except in ideology. Only within the last century has love become the motivation for marriage. If I remember correctly, marriage was simply a legal arrangement between the parents of a young woman and her husband wherein he assumed legal rights to her body and her property. Love was not high on the list of considerations. Does that make it a "holy institution"?

As for the 50 percent of divorces coming from the "lower end of society...junkies, drunks, sluts, crack whores, etc.," that is a fallacy. Where were you during the '80s, watching "Leave It To Beaver" reruns on TBS? Divorce is probably the most common among the well-off, they've got more to bitch about. I'll bet you would need a pretty sophisticated scientific calculator to figure the total amount of divorces among the rich and famous in Hollywood. How many times was Liz Taylor married? Bet you wouldn't call her a crack whore. In the real world, plenty of people marry for money and those marriages almost always end in divorce.

Since when has marriage been a prerequisite for being a good parent? My parents divorced when I was 10 and I would slap anybody who said that made them "another worthless parent." You don't need to be married to raise a child properly.

I think marriage should be for love but I don't think you need a certificate from the state or a huge flashy ring and wedding ceremony to signify the ultimate expression of that love. I know people that have lived together for 20 years and raised wonderful kids but never been legally married. They consider themselves married but they believe, as I do that you don't need a piece of paper or a tax incentive to share your heart and your life with someone. The idea of "legal" marriage as we know it is an antiquated concept and far from the "holy institution" you make it out to be. Only love makes it holy, not your marriage certificate.

Todd Crouthamel
Political Science junior