In this over sexualized culture, when people think about the marriage issue, they think about sex. But wouldn’t it be great if you could explain what marriage is without getting into a discussion about sexual acts?
Simply put, marriage is a reality that unites a man and a woman with each other and any children born from their union. That’s what it is, that’s what it does. We call this “marriage reality.” The phase “any children born from their union” is important because not all married men and women have children, do they?
Notice this describes the fullness of marriage while preserving the dignity of the marital embrace.Complementarity of the sexes and procreative acts are presumed. You don’t need to get into all of the yucky stuff about what parts fit together or don’t. Besides, how do you explain that to the kids?
But this description, “marriage unites a man and a woman with each other and any children born from their union” adds other important dimensions of marriage reality that most people don’t even think about. If you don’t get it, your kids can explain it to you.
In reality, marriage is also about irreplaceability of the spouse to each other and to the children, as well as non-substitutability and irrevocability.
When marriage reality is recognized by law, we have a civil institution that specifically unites kids with their moms and dads. Redefining marriage eliminated it. Do we need to restore a civil institution that unites kids with their moms and dads?