Contract or Covenant?

[penkitten]

contracts are known to end.

[reneet]

Marriages are known to end also.

[EnigmaXOXO]

Good question, Moose. However, since I believe in both covenant and contract, I had a difficult time having to choose between which one I would personally feel more comfortable with.

 

I would accept "covenant" in it's full glory providing my partner was dedicated to his religious teachings regarding "sin" to the point where he would not ever commit such acts for fear of suffering the wrath of A Higher Authority. However, if he also assigns himself to the notion that by faith alone he is also granted forgiveness for his sins, I don't know how such magical thinking is going to assure me protection against becoming martyred property to an abusive and careless spouse in the long run.

 

I think, until God can provide me with a restraining order, equal split of property settlement, child support, and a full-on guarantee that I'll be protected from being beaten to a pulp or contacting STDs … I'll take the legal contract. Which is why I'm a big proponent of religion and state remaining separate.

 

I mean no offense to those who believe otherwise.

[Almost]

It seems to me that the way covenant is being defined here, it is basically a contract with only a few ways to opt out that are spelled out in the bible. And with the idea being that you do everything you can to make it work and think first about the other person rather than yourself.

 

But then the way contract is being defined, it is kind of being assumed that part of the definition of contract is that you of course look out only for yourself and you don't think of the other person, and just look to get out of it at the first sign of trouble. I think this is an inaccurate "straw man" definition of what a contract really is.

 

If I ever get married, I would intend for it to be like a convenant the way it is described here. But using the dictionary definition, I don't think there is really much if any difference between the two.