How Long Can Your Non-Marriage Last?

illustration credit: Brian Rea

          A seminary friend of mine posted this piece from the New York Times.
          It's entitled "The Case for Marriage," but it's the content is far from what I imagine the average reader would expect from the title. The author, Jessica Bennett, doesn't go deep into statistics about co-habitation and divorce or even go as far as to say that a marriage definitely would have saved her and her longtime fiance's relationship. Her article does raise many questions and acknowledge some cultural realities, namely the questionable and diverse reasons for either reluctance or insistence on marriage, and how life was on the other side of the fence from the institution of marriage.
          I wouldn't support this article as a prominent part of a Christian argument against co-habitation, namely because of its use of the "contract" concept (as opposed to the biblical covenantal idea), but it's an educational and interesting read on the life (and doubts) of someone who lived on the other side of the spectrum.