Deprioritization

The Bible speaks powerfully to the concept of the institution of marriage, a male-female relationship that reflects Jesus and His Church, His bride; Ephesians chapter 5 states:
28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

In certain areas of the United Kingdom, there are over 100,000 of them that seem to be missing, according to statistical data - relevant, important building blocks for a functioning society - gone, due to COVID, or, better said, the reaction to the COVID pandemic.

The UK's Marriage Foundation reports on its website that the Office for National Statistics recently released marriage figures for the years 2021 and 2022 in England and Wales in the U.K. The article states:

The figures show a significant rebound from the 61% fall in 2020. Britain’s lockdown policies led the biggest drop in weddings in Europe. By comparison, our neighbouring countries in Western Europe saw a drop of just one quarter.

It goes on to say:

Although ONS report that marriage rates have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, there remains a significant shortfall over the combined three-year period 2020-2022 compared to 2019.

In total, we are still missing some 115,000 weddings, which equates to more than half an entire year’s worth of cancelled marriages.

Of course, the central question is this, as the article poses: "What has happened to these couples?" Whatever the reason, the piece noted at the time:

Perhaps it’s not surprising that half a year’s worth of couples have given up. The public messaging from our political class is that marriage doesn’t matter really – although most think its important for their own private lives. Its now a decade since any cabinet minister mentioned marriage in a major speech.

The Daily Citizen published a piece a few months ago featuring comments from noted researcher Brad Wilcox; it stated:

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Citizen, Dr. Wilcox shared from his experience interacting with young people at the University of Virginia. “I’m a lot more worried today about young adult’s marriage prospects,” he said, “because what we’re seeing across the developed world is that marriage rates and fertility rates are falling.”

“I talk about the closing of the American heart,” he added, “because young people are having more difficult dating, marrying, and finding someone who’s worthy of marriage.”

The article goes on to say:

As Dr. Wilcox noted, our society has witnessed a dramatic decline in marriage rates. According to the Pew Research Center, 25% of 40-year-olds in the United States today have never been married. This is compared to 20% in 2010 and just 6% in 1980.

Why is this?  Wilcox offers some possible explanations:

“In part, it’s because our culture has turned in a more individualistic direction,” Dr. Wilcox said. “Young adults also often prioritize education and work over love and marriage.”

“Additionally, there’s a lot of young adults who are struggling,” he added. “They’re not stably employed and there may be drug issues in play. They’re not particularly appealing or attractive as candidates for marriage.”

I believe that what we are seeing is a deprioritization of marriage - that leads to a culturally-pervasive decline in stability.  Without marriage and families, an individualistic spirit grows, and with individualism, selfishness can grow.  Without the moorings of strong families - and I would add, strong families who draw strength from the Lord - lives go adrift.  We need to be anchored in the principles of Scripture and the practices of our faith. 

The sanctity of marriage and the priority of strong families should be championed by influential people across our society - that extends to our governmental leaders, those who have a platform on social media, and throughout the Church. The Church has a real opportunity to impact culture by addressing one of its key building blocks - marriage. 

But distraction and distortion seem to get in the way.  People put career advancement ahead of entering into marriage; the whole definition of marriage is changing, unfortunately; and, people have perhaps observed that it didn't work for their parents, other family members, or friends around them.  We need to reclaim marriage for the incredible union that it is - two people, a man and a woman, who love one another and desire to put the needs of the other person first, entering into a mutually beneficial, one-flesh relationship.  That is worth prioritizing!