SAY WHAT?!
After completing my five part post about why waiting to get married and/or having children is so important to a healthy and stable marriage, I eagerly joined friends for lunch and scintillating conversation. Knowing that I had posted my article on my blog, one friend directed my attention to an astounding piece of news about young marriages. You have to believe me when I say my mouth literally fell open. Just when I thought the Christian Right couldn’t go any further right on the Liberal - Conservative continuum, I do believe they actually fell off. I kid you not!
“Andrew Walker, director of policy studies for the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and Jon Akin, senior pastor of Fairview Church in Lebanon, Tennessee, made the argument in a column for the Baptist Press earlier this week.”
"We do not advocate a specific age; rather, we believe that young people should make themselves 'marry-able' younger," wrote Walker and Akin. Are Walker and Akin trying to coin a phrase with marry-able younger? The phrase is awkward on the tongue and the argument even more unpalatable.
I tried to think of ways to paraphrase this next quote, but I could not get my head around it. Walker and Akin state, “It's impractical and unhelpful to advise and encourage young men and women who reach sexual maturity at the age of 12 or 13 to wait 15 years before marriage and still remain pure.” So, are they giving Southern Baptists’ Teens a mandate to get married at the young age of twelve?
This is a throwback to the Dark Ages when girls were married off at a ridiculous age. High maternal and infant death rates significantly lowered the over all life expectancy of that time and continued to do so well into the 19th century. Of course, causes other than the young ages of the mothers also contributed to high maternal and infant mortality: basic hygiene being a big one. But the bottom line is that anyone without adequate resources (financial, access to good health care, daily living skills, education, etc) is at greater risk, and children born into such situations fare far worse than their more fortunate counterparts.
An impressive number of research studies have been conducted on teen marriages. The unquestionable truth is early marriages are detrimental to achieving a healthy and stable family.
“Compared to girls who marry later, teenage brides have less schooling, less independence, and experience of life and work. Teen brides are also at more risk for being abused and living at poverty levels.” (Center for Law and Social Policy.) Their children are more likely to have a lower birth weights, under developed intellects, and developmental learning problems.
I am positive that not all devout Southern Baptists would agree with this philosophy.
I believe that all children have the right to a stable family life. They should be given opportunities to grow and develop their talents. In addition, they deserve an education that enables them to achieve their full potential and become a valued member of society. What parent would not want that for his/her child?
“EDUCATION IS NOT PREPARATION FOR LIFE; EDUCATION IS LIFE ITSELF.”
– JOHN DEWEY
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