“Arranged Marriages are better than Romantic Marriages?”
Prepared by: Jonna D. Suarez
One of the largest and most difficult decisions you will ever make in your life, according
to some, is who you will marry. Indeed, that is accurate. Marriage, matrimony, wedlock
— can signify many different things, depending on who defines it. According to
Encyclopedia Britannica, marriage is a socially and legally recognized partnership that
typically involves a man and a woman. Because it is God's holy word, for Christians,
marriage is viewed as a sacred bonding of two individuals who got together in a
common purpose, also often, and for young couples, marriage is about love and a
shared sentiment between the two people. Certainly, marriage is a goal for almost
everyone in the pursuit of finding the perfect partner to share feelings, create a family
and make beautiful memories with.
Although ideal, traditional ways of filtering the most compatible—if not perfect—partner
to come up with a supposedly once-in-a-lifetime decision such as marriage is no longer
effective and practical nowadays. With that, an organized marriage must take place.
An arranged marriage is a partnership that is arranged by the spouses' families or
other parties. This kind of marriage is a deeply-rooted traditional belief that is still
prevalent in some countries such as Korea, India, Japan and China. Many believe,
even I myself, that marriage that is prearranged is far superior to romantic marriage.
Why?
First, as "mothers know best," couples must have complete faith in their elders when
it comes to selecting the spouse who would be the best fit for marriage. One key to a
strong marriage is the amount of parental involvement at its start. Undeniably, couples
cannot enjoy a happy life in the future if parents do not fully support their marriage.
Second, separation has a much higher rate of happening to spouses whose only
foundation for their relationship is nothing but romantic affection. Humans often tend
to be emotionally smart rather than a rationally one. Certainly, love may make you
happy, but the truth is that it will never pay your expenses or fill your empty stomach.
Individuals prefer to married with only holding about love and feelings - without
considering how financially solid the other person is. There are limits to how long you
will stay with your partner out of emotion. People today must live more frugally and
with greater wisdom than ever before, which can lead to tension and conflict when one
is unable to provide for fundamental needs like putting food on the table. Hence
marriage should provide you financial security and stability.
Third, divorce rate is less likely to happen in arranged marriage. According to study,
in 2012 shows the divorce rate of arranged marriages is less than 4-6% — as opposed
to around 40% of marriages in the US where partners chose who to marry on their
own free will.
On the other side of the coin, we cannot argue the fact that arranged marriage provides
spouses with greater sense of familiarity to each other in terms of culture, beliefs, living
style, background, ethics and religion. That if two people share the same worldview,
they can fully understand and embrace one another and debates and contention are
less likely to happen.
All of these, being integral factors for a succeeding relationship, the writer firmly
believes that arranged marriages are way better than romantic ones. Ensuring these
key elements even prior to the wedding — saving everybody’s time and efforts and
even avoiding future disputes that lead to separation which only contribute nothing but
pure misery to people who are going to be affected such as the children and their
future.