Fixed-Term Marriages Next? Christian Group Rebuffs Call to Further Redefine Marriage
The Coalition for Marriage (C4M), a Christian campaign group in the United Kingdom that opposes same-sex marriage, has rebuffed a call made by well-known author and academic Jeanette Winterson for the state to redefine marriage and allow for fixed-term unions, both heterosexual and same-sex.
In a letter to the group's supporters, C4M Campaign Director Colin Hart assailed Winterson for seeking to further redefine marriage by scrapping the idea of lifelong commitment.
"The concept of a 'fixed-term marriage' must be firmly resisted. Marriage requires total commitment, not temporary assent," Hart said.
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"C4M always warned that, once marriage was redefined for same-sex couples, there would be further redefinitions down the line. We need to continue speaking out for the true definition of marriage – the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others," Hart said.
Writing for The Guardian, Winterson said there is a need to recognize that for most couples seeking to live together "for ever is too long."
She said since marriage is a contract, "why not discuss fixed-term contracts?"
Winterson, who entered into a same-sex marriage with a woman in 2015, said she wanted to stay with her partner for as long as possible but "I would have preferred to sign up for 10 years because 'for ever' makes me panic."
She said a fixed-term marriage "might allow both parents to feel less pressure and more responsibility."
In calling for marriage reform, Winterson said what needs to be done first is to "nullify the power of religion to dictate the rights of individuals over their own bodies."
Many Christians also struggle with the view of marriage as a lifelong commitment, according to Mary Hasson, director of the Catholic Women's Forum at the Ethics & Public Policy Center in Washington D.C.
Speaking to The Christian Post in June 2016, Hasson said she agrees with Pope Francis' assertion that couples often fail to understand the sacred vows they are making to each other.
"It's individual consumerism applied to sexuality — what I want, when I want it, and only for as long as I want it," said Hasson.
"It's meaningful only from a 'what's in it for me' perspective. Relationships often take on the same quality — they are vehicles for personal fulfillment (however defined) and, like an old car, they can be traded or dumped when the repair costs get too high or a new model appears on the scene," she said.
Last year, Pope Francis declared that most Catholic marriages are effectively void because couples don't understand that the marital union is a lifelong commitment.
"A large majority of sacramental marriages are null," the pope said, according to the Catholic News Service. "They say 'yes, for my whole life,' but they do not know what they are saying because they have a different culture."
