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Millions shared in the celebra–
tion of Britain
:S
royal marriage.
Yet this is a time when the
age-old institution of marriage
is threatened on al/ sides. Are
marriage and family no longer
relevant?
by
Charles F. Hunting
W
ATCHED BY
500 million
people - every seventh
person on earth - a radi–
ant Princess Anne became the wife
of Captain Mark Phill ips on a
brilliant November day in London's
historie Westminster Abbey.
Thousands jammed the royal
route to get a glirnpse of the regal
procession. They were joined by the
míllions who, through live satellite
television coverage, thrilled to the
pageantry of this jubilant occasion.
A Breath of Happiness
On this joyous day, Britain, and
indeed the world, took time off from
a tense national and international
crisis that had occupied the minds
of statesmen and populace alike in
the anxious weeks and months pre–
ceding the wedding.
Asked in a BBC interview about
the overwhelming interest that has
been shown in the wedding, Captain
Phill ips commented that it " reftects
a little bit the state of the world a t
2
the rooment , in that every day
people pick up the paper and read
about sorne disaster or sorne new
scandal, and 1 think they are really
rather relieved to read about some–
thing that is genuinely happy and
good."
The Queen Mother, returoing
from the wedding to Buckingham
Palace, remarked to Prince Charles
as she waved to the crowds in the
MaU, "Aren't they aL! so happy?"
Yes, it was a tremendously happy
occasion! Marriage, and especially a
royal roarriage, somehow excites
most human beings. And perhaps
more than any other in recent years,
this marriage captured the minds of
hundreds of millions.
If the royal wedding taught us
anything, it was certainly that in
spite of the mounting attack on
marriage in this twentieth century
by a vocal minority among psy–
chologists, phil osopher s and
women's libbers, marriage is still
very much in vogue with the masses.
Most people, in fact, consider
marriage and the family ás still
being vital in the modero world. A
British opioion poll in 1971 revealed
that even in this permissive age,
with growing demands for new free–
doms, 94 percent of the British
people believed that "the family
structure is of supreme importance"
(Daily
Express,
Aug. 28, 1971).
Another poll showed that of those
in the under 30 group, 77 percent
think marriage is still relevant. As
one person said: "Marriage is essen–
tial for the securi ty and stability of
family life. l'm convinced there is a
far greater responsibility towards
children in marriage than there is in
a loose arrangement, which seldom
if ever seems to work"
(ibid.,
June
30, 1971).
Yet bornes, despite the tremen–
dous interest people have in mar–
riage, are too often unbappy!
ls Marriage Obsolete?
Divorce, now epidemic, vividly
reftects the unhappy state of mar–
riages. Almost one in three Ameri–
can marriages, for example, ends in
divorce, and in sorne
U.
S. West
Coast cities the rate is 70 percent!
Meanwhile, an estimated half-mil–
lion American children run away
from home every single year - a
shocking testimony to tbat heart–
ache. And an expanding slice of
youths belong to an alienated cul–
ture which is hostile toward the
family and society as a whole.
Small wonder then that unhappy
and increasingly shattered bornes
are causing sorne sociologists to
question the value of such an in–
st itution in this changed world.
A HAPPYMARRIAGE-
15 IT ONLY FOR A
1
•
PLAIN TRUTH March 1974