The Family As A Love Unit
The family is an ancient institution. The family is the original institution. The family is the first human institution.
The family speaks the language of love, which is the lingua franca of Heaven, and love is God's primary message to humanity.
Body. Mind. Heart. Soul. The family figures out prominently on that map.
The family as a unit can not go out of fashion. The family that you might be born into. The family that you might create.
Not all heritage on the topic is right and wonderful. Sexism is wrong. Sexism is sin. The family has to be reimagined in a non sexist way. Gay marriage ought to be rightfully legal everywhere.
There is no one right way. Just like each individual is unique, each relationship is unique. Not only that, each interaction in each relationship is unique.
Domestic violence is the number one security threat on the planet right now. Domestic violence is crime and should be treated as such.
Purchasing power parity should be achieved by women. That will make for happier, healthier families.
Most people seem to want to meet that one special person early in life and spend their lives with them. People in loving, functional relationships claim the relationship keeps getting better with time. Some claim it is less about finding the perfect car and more about learning how to drive. Maybe it is both.
But divorces happen. And when they happen that is not the end of the world. Should not be.
One hopes the next phase of the economy is one with child care and family leave built in so that women who choose to have full blown careers.
Some people choose to stay single. Some people choose to marry late. Some people prefer live in arrangements.
There is obviously variety to relationships.
There is chemistry. Some of it personal, some cultural. Some explainable, some mysterious.
And there is communication. Communication is the lifeblood of the relationship.
Most people seem to prefer to stay within their cultural boundaries, over 95%. But that is changing. More and more people are crossing the cultural boundaries in ways where they keep what they have and enrichen themselves with new knowledge and experiences.
There are still parts of the world with arranged marriages. Education, urbanization, women having careers might slowly change that.
Urbanization is the overwhelming trend globally, and that seems to impact relationship patterns.
There are also some non-traditional relationships. They seem to challenge some of the basic assumptions.
Loving God opens up your heart and makes you more capable of love. A lot of people find sustenance for their relationships in the community and among friends.
The family and relationships have legitimate claims to privacy. Privacy is the space where the relationship happens. That is also true for public figures.
Social science research might not be such a bad way to find out what is going on and what ought to happen. Love is also ancient wisdom.
