Askew View of Marriage

In an article today posted here entitled "Woman Tells of Forced Marriage at Polygamist Hearing," it reads:

ST. GEORGE, Utah (Nov. 21) - A woman who says she was forced to marry her cousin when she was 14 told a judge Tuesday that she sometimes used sex to get favors from her husband, such as money and the freedom to see friends.

And more,

I would just try to be a willing, submissive wife so that he would feel good about letting me do these things and have these things," the woman, now 20, testified under cross-examination...Jeffs, 50, is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice for his suspected role in arranging the marriage between her and her 19-year-old first cousin. The woman was testifying at a hearing for the judge to decide whether there is probable cause to send Jeffs to trial.

Finally the wife said,

The ceremony at a Nevada motel in 2001 was "one of the most painful things I've ever been through. I just want to move on with my life and forget it happened," the woman testified...She said she refused to say "I do," take her groom's hand or kiss him. Finally, she relented, submitting to a "peck" and then locking herself in the bathroom..."I felt completely trapped and defeated," she said.

This is unfortunate. The fact that a newly wed bride would have to say that my wedding was one of the most painful things I've ever done is hideous. Furthermore, the bride refused to say "I do." Then he finally relented to kiss her groom but then had to go lock herself in a bathroom because she felt defeated. This is painfully the reality of our world and its view of marriage. It is now "culturally wrong" to say a covenant of marriage because the world does not know what a true covenant really is.

This is another example of how skewed our world's view of marriage truly is. What happened to the biblical mandate of Matthew 19:5-6 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh '? 6 "Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." And then again in 1 Peter 3:7-8 7 You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. And even in the same context, Peter notes 8 To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;

We need to re-teach, from square one, what the biblical mandate of marriage is, namely, a covenant of companionship for a man and a woman for a lifetime of service(notice not a man to a man or a woman to a woman) so as to bring honor, glory and praise to God.

SOURCE: http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/woman-tells-of-forced-marriage-at/20061120224709990011?ncid=NWS00010000000001