"By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. " -- Socrates

So we are talking about marriage. I read up on an article, http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/history_of_marriage_in_western.html , and here is what I think about it.

In Ancient Israel the wives are considerded property for the most part and they mostly married for procreation. I believe in procreation, the reason I believe in this is because we need to pass our genes on to be sucessful. However I would not want to have kids without someone I love. In Israel, love was not escential.

In Medieval Europe the wives had a little more power, but not to much. Christianity made it so that divorce was punishable by death. Since christianity came around, marriage was more popular It was frowned apon if you were not a virgin who was not married. Love was not to popular here either. The wedding ring idea, came from Medieval Europe, it is actually a down payment for a brides sale. There were laws to prohibite marring in the family to closely. I think that the laws were reasonable. I do not like arranged marriages, they creep me out, marring somebody you might not know.

In modern times wives had once more a little more power, but not equal to the mans. Divorce was permitted on special circumstances, it took years for it to be legalized. Polygamy was looked down apon. America has followed some of the catholic rituals, by having a priest (justice of the peace) and two witnesses.

So after reading all of that, I know where some of the traditions came from. It does not change the way I feel about marriage. I think if you love someone, and want to move on to the next step, thats marriage. I don't believe in marring for money, unless you actually love him/her. The reason I want to get married is because I want to create a family, with the people I love and adore. The things I think is a must in most relationships is; love, friendship, communication, trust and loyalty. Without those things, it is pretty much doomed. I understand divorce, if you fall in love with someone, then a year later he is totally different and you do not like it, divorce is an easy way out.