This book not be read by anyone. Whether you have designs to get married or not this isn't a book that should be read. It's a bunch of sacrilegious nonsense. Jackson asserts that God doesn't have control over His creation or even know what's going on. As if despite His omnipotence and omniscience He could somehow be left out of the loop. As if this weren't enough she blasphemes with the assertion that Adam (of Genesis) who was created in God's image was a hermaphrodite, thus asserting that God Himself is a hermaphrodite.
Jackson doesn't stop there, her book is premised on the fallacy that marriage is the root cause of divorce, spousal and child abuse, and adultery. The fact that many people live happy loving lives while married is lost on her. She refuses to see that the cause of the problems listed before and indeed all problems we face is the sin that lives in us all. Some are strong enough to combat the sin and others aren't. Some people should never have become married, married too soon, or for the wrong reasons. She points blame at an institution created by God for our benefit, because she is morally bankrupt. She tries to say that adultery is impossible because one's body is owned only by the person who inhabits it. While I agree that ownership of one's body is limited to the inhabitant, adultery is fully possible because when one becomes married they vow to "forsake all others, until death do you part".
Jackson also tries to assert that animals don't have marriage. Wrong again, they may not have a ceremony as we know it, but they do have marriage. Some water fowl, wolves, penguins, and an assortment of other group living animals mate (aka marry) for life. It was wrong of her to even try this argument, for even though we as humans are animals we are graced by God with a soul and were placed by Him over the animals.
The purpose of monogamy, and thus marriage, is to assure the continuation of the species by protecting the married couple from std's, assuring the male that the children he's raising are, in fact, his own, and giving the male a reason not to leave the family. Without marriage the family crisis, not to mention birthrates, would increase a hundredfold. Already we see what happens when the man is pushed, or at least not expected to stay with his children. Look at the number and size of teen gangs, teenage pregnancy, child poverty, rape, molestation... I could go on. These problems are very real and any sociologist will tell you that a very large part of the problem is that so many children are raised by single mothers. Take the father out of the home and eventually chaos replaces him.
I believe the reason Jackson is so fervently anti-marriage is because she is a member of a subculture of swingers. She finds the binds of marriage overly confining and constricting. While I have nothing against her or her lifestyle, it is irresponsible of her to assert that marriage is the problem and that by forsaking it we will find happiness. Neither being single or married is easy, they both take vast amounts of effort. Marriage is meant for only those with the willpower for self-discipline and responsibility. It is obvious to me that Betty Joe Jackson is not one of those people.
As I said before, no one should read this book.
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I received a complimentary copy of Marriage: The second blood covenant as a member of the Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team. Visit dorrancebookstore.com
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