Would someone please tell me where in the bible does it say that you are supposed to stand in front of a minister, preacher, rabbi whatever he may be to you, to get married? Where in the bible does it say that you have to have a license to be married? And lastly, who performed the marriage ceremony for Adam & Eve?
When I read my bible, it tells me that God put's a man and a woman together in marriage. So, when you get right down to it, there is no middleman. The part of having sex before marriage, that's different. To my way of thinking it depends on where the heart is.
Now, a lot of people don't have their heart in the right place. They see someone they find attractive. Now it seems there are too many people that want to "test drive" first. It's not about whether they love each other or not. And it's not about the right kind of compatibility either. It's about how good the sex is. That's what makes it wrong.
When God put Adam & Eve together, it wasn't about sex. It was about love and companionship. I believe that's the way God meant it to be. God puts one man and one woman together in marriage. And it's supposed to be forever.
But now, for many, it's about sex or what monetary thing one might be able to give the other. Sex is like looks, it eventually fades. If you base your relationships on sex or looks, the relationship is bound to fail. Just my humble opinion. But God ain't in it.
Agree. Except I don't believe in the God portrayed in organized religions anymore. I tried for decades to fit into a religion because I live a lifestyle that alienates me from mainstream society, but I just felt so many things were off (as in hypocritical) within Christianity and the disconnect between the teachings and the way nobody was actually following them was too much for me. Also the idea that I should trust my heart, soul and spirituality to some stranger(s) because they think they have a special connection to God which I can't have, even though I am closer to my soul than any other person could ever be.
One thing I did always like about organized religions was the waiting-for-marriage "rule." However I always wondered why people needed to be dominated and then forced by some perceived external, all-mighty being to implement the rule. You can't really trust someone who is doing something based on an external order. If they were left to their own devices, most of the religious people in the world would become just as promiscuous as anyone else in mainstream Western society. If it is not in their heart to save themselves for marriage, they would go out having sex here and there too if the pressure and manipulation of their religion were not bearing down upon them, and that is no reason to abstain from sex--it's disingenuous.