In a new twist on the pre-marital sex front, some evangelical churches are encouraging young couples to marry sooner rather than struggle to abstain from sex well into their 20s. Not surprisingly, the idea is garnering criticism from those who worry that society has changed too much for young adults to go back to the ways of their parents and grandparents and others who worry that the suggestion makes marriage nothing more than pathway to sex without guilt.
In an age when "childhood" seems to stretch on endlessly and efforts are under way to allow parents to provide health insurance for "kids" up to 30 years of age, the idea of promoting early marriage certainly goes against the grain. Young adults today are marrying later, waiting to finish college and start jobs, so it remains to be seen if this new approach will get any traction at all.
From the AP story today:
"At Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., associate pastor Michael Lawrence emphasizes that marriage is a covenant, not a convenient arrangement, and offers advice to young couples on overcoming arguments over money, sex and family.For the full story, click HERE. H/T to Ed Mechmann at Varia.
"'We probably haven't served our young people well by on the one hand emphasizing abstinence, but on the other hand telling them to wait to get married," Lawrence said. "It seems to be setting them up to fail.'
"Like most proponents of young marriage, Lawrence does not set an arbitrary 'right' age for marriage. Waiting until after college might be advisable if the alternative is crushing debt or dropping out, he said.
"Supporters of abstinence programs promote them as both marriage-preparation tools and longer-term support systems for those who don't marry.
"Jimmy Hester, co-founder of True Love Waits, part of the Southern Baptist Convention's LifeWay Christian Resources, disagreed with the argument that abstinence past a certain age is too much to ask.
"'There are too many examples of people who have done it,' he said. 'And not out of their own strength, even, but out of a relationship with God who gives them strength.'
"Johns Hopkins University sociologist Andrew Cherlin, who studies families and public policy, said young marriage is a tough sell. A half-century ago, when people married earlier, fewer people attended college, high school graduates could get good-paying factory jobs, women became mothers right after school and families were larger, he said.
"'Most evangelicals, as well as most Americans, realize how expensive it is to raise children these days,' Cherlin said. 'The most important rationale for early marriage — having a larger family — has disappeared.'"
