really want to grab a lot of young Catholics with a "this is what's wrong with the dating world today" mindset by the shoulders and tell them that they are wrong no matter what they think "this" is, there is literally no dating world of yesterday. dating is a very new thing, as is marrying exclusively for companionship. the situation is that this is a time when there are more possible viewpoints and preferences than ever before, and people rely more on their spouse for every point of emotional and social need than ever before, making compatibility more of a priority, and harder to achieve, than ever before. also, people expect their marriages to be romantic and happy, and there is less of an attitude that couples (especially women) need to compromise in order to achieve marital harmony, and far less incentive for them to do so because a husband isn't necessary for women participate in adult society. nor is family influence over marriage at all as prevalent as in the past because marriage generally happens long after children have grown up and left the family home, and is no longer the means by which adolescents pass into adulthood. plus it is more common and more acceptable to have sharply deviating values and beliefs than your parents anyway. and frankly to some extent this all seems like a win to me, that people now get married because they really love each other instead of picking someone you hope you'll be able to stand and it working out by virtue of her biting her tongue for twenty years because the alternative is starving to death lol
2087
origamiaround
prguitarman
