Civil Union vs Marriage

A conversation came about, regarding the California debate of civil unions for homosexuals. My general view is live and let live. That said, the topic brought on an interesting aspect that I hadn’t thought of.

It appears that Europe has embraced the civil unions for homosexuals. Granted, I don’t live in Europe and I don’t know the stats involved, this information coming from a friend who has read up, just by keeping in check with the topic.

By having a civil union, it’s saying "you aren’t really part of the club" but to make this fair, we’re going to offer something new, this civil union idea. Hence, civil union is something altogether different from marriage, but similar.

And now, the findings are that the civil unions have a negative impact on marriage! Heterosexuals in Europe aren’t getting married at the same rate as in the past, rather they are opting for civil unions as well. After all, this new idea can’t just be for homosexuals and in creating it for couples ~ it’s taking on a life of its own.

If couples can opt for something less binding than marriage, some might just do it. The heterosexuals in Europe are calling it, "Marriage Lite." (Which used to be coined for living together, now it’s for the civil union without the marriage.)

Odd, isn’t it?

Comments

K.C. said…
Saw your sweet story about your childhood toy on another blog, so I thought I would come over and visit.

I agree with you, "Live and let live!" Life is too short to worry about what other are doing! KC
K.C. said…
I love what you wrote on my blog. The fact that you hand it over to God, and it may be that he makes this path better or leads me on another....

I never thought of that. The fact that I can get up every day knowing that what I am doing is the right thing to do because I have asked for guidance. Thanks for your input! KC
Aleta said…
Hi K.C. Thank you for visiting my blog. Life is short, that is the need to appreciate what we have. Do you enjoy Sci-Fi movies? Greg and I were watching BattleStar Galactica tonight and one of the themes of tonight's show is that the essence of appreciating life is that we are mortal. Every minute counts, every blessing should be considered. Yes, life is short and how wonderful that we are a part of it.

I'm glad you liked my response on your blog. Yes, there are paths we understand and some we don't. If we allow ourselves to take the steps instead of struggling, it can make it an incredible journey!

Thanks again for visiting!
Anonymous said…
I'm a big believer that if people are going to object to marriage on religious grounds, then only saved Christians should get married. I mean, if marriage is a religious institution, then that's how it should be, right?

But the fact is that any two consenting adults can get married as long as one is male and the other is female. That means two athiests, two wiccans, two hindus, a Jew and a Catholic... ANYONE. To deny that basic right to gays is just wrong in my book...
Vartika said…
That’s a new (and nice) idea yay! I never knew the concept was picking up that fast…
Aleta said…
Hi Jen, You raise a good question with regards to religious grounds and I suppose that’s the reason there are civil ceremonies. I know of someone who will be going through two ceremonies, but with the same person. The individual is coming in from out of country and yes, they are very much in love. They have a limited timeframe to marry and hence, the civil ceremony. But they want a Catholic ceremony as well and will get married later in the church too. Life is for the living and trying to find joy, while not in the process of hurting another.

Hi Vartika ~ there’s a lot of talk and from what I gather, the situation in California will bring up the topic more with the Presidential candidates in America.
Rashikaps said…
Nice coinage! :)
Random me said…
Interesting post here, I am from Europe and in Ireland they have still to allow civil unions, but marraige rates are still dropping. I think this is because of a growing atheistic and secularist community here. Ireland was always very much a Catholic country, to the point where the power held by the church in every wake of life became hugely corrupt, when all of this came out into the open people wanted to move away from that institution as they were so angry with what had happened, so, for some, anything that symbolised the church was let go, marraige being one of those things. I don't know about the rest of Europe but it could be similar there.
As for civil union, i hope that in the next few years it will be brought in here, we are a bit behind but then homosexuality was still a crime in Ireland until 1993 so we really need to catch up!!