With 18 being the illegal age for marriage. who believes it should be raised higher?
339807
Although I don't think most people are ready by 18, some are mature enough and stay married for life. By the same token there are fools of all ages that marry without real thought.\nMore importantly than an age limit, I think what would improve success rates would be a waiting period...register and then marry a year later. There could be exceptions for extreme circumstances (illness, perhaps going away to war) but I think there'd be fewer divorces if people weren't allowed to marry impulsively.
33043
No, there is no state that allows people younger than 18 to marry without parental consent.
1162281
I dont think the Bible specified an age when to get married.
652421
What does logic have to do with it..and that small of a difference shouldn't make much of a difference...unless that puts the girl under age to be married without consent.
1142846
That is a serious question.  I think about the poor 18 year old guys who got caught with their 17 year old girlfriends.  This is a very bull-headed move, right or wrong.
337158
You're a fool. Back then girls were married off around 12 or 13 and then usually had kids arounds 14 or 15. Get used to it, that's just how it was.
868374
Probably because this issue is a political hot potato.  Even if many people agree that age of consent laws should be changed or other legislative reform introduced, no one dares speak up on the issue for fear of being branded a pedophile or child molester.  We should be able to have a rational debate about important issues like this, but, especially in the United States, it is too much of a political and emotionally charged issue.  Other countries have more sensible laws on the books, but I doubt that the United States will ever adopt them because of the Christian Fundamentalist and Conservative elements in American society.
714335
Well, there is a lot of opinion about this issue. Within the US there are varying standards, and in other countries even bigger differences of opinion. Something illegal in the US might well be legal in England or Holland.\n\nI'd agree with you that there should be some changes, and some standardization of the law. One of the better approaches is to tie statutory rape to the age gap, rather than the age - so a 14 and a 16 year old would be OK, but a 14 and an 18 year old would not. Even then, the maturity of the couple should be taken into account.\n\nUnfortunately, the majority of the US is still highly puritanical, and consider the entire subject of sex unclean. They have more hang ups about sex than any European nation. Americans have convinced themselves that the showing of a nipple on national TV is far more offensive than outright violence being shown. Breast feeding is considered so dirty that mothers have to hide in 'lactation stations' to perform this perfectly natural function. And archaic rules that allow men to walk topless on a beach prevent women from doing the same thing.\n\nWe are as a nation, prudish and sexually frustrated, leading to intolerance in our society. Hopefully that will change with time. You can start that change - petition politicians, talk about it at school or in your church groups, and consider getting involved in one of the main political parties. Young people are the ones who can over time make a difference in this country.
815761
I don't think we should allow society to dictate age restrictions in relationships. There is a 21 year age gap between my boyfriend and I (I'm 27). I have never been happier in my life. Just like with any relationship, it needs to have the essentials like trust, understanding, communication, interests, goals, etc. If those elements are in place, then nothing else matters. Love is the greatest feeling in the world, and age shouldn't stop anyone from experiencing it.
631533
Anyone who loves one another should be able to marry.\n\nIt is sham marriages without love that should be illegal. And divorce, too. Same sex marriages are less likely to end in divorce than straight marriages. Why don't all the people who claim to be standing up for "family values" try to make divorce illegal? I think that they are all thinly veiled gay bashers because if they really cared about family values they would try to reduce the divorce rate.
173543
I think that as long as someone is old enough and educated enough to consent to sex, there shouldn't be any law against it as long as both parties consent.
647490
That's a very good question. I guess the correct answer would depend on which side of the argument you are on. If you think it SHOULD bu illegal than they are just slow to getting there. But you also have to remember that they are just totally different cultures, they are aloud to go out drinking at the age of sixteen but can't drive until they are eighteen. Things are just different over there, maybe they haven't realized how bad it is yet, or maybe they think that people should be able to decide on their own.
1090961
I guess it would depend on what state you live in.  I know in Illinois  there is no way your getting married under the age of 18 w/o parents consent.
404719
Hopefully no one over 18. I feel sorry for those people. Sex is worth experiencing before marriage.
1167211
Because so many times the people getting married are too young and do not know what they are getting into. then they want to blame each other for the problem. \n\nMarriage is to easy to start and hard to end\n\nI was one of these silly girls. At 19 my parents wanted me to marry my first husband simply because he asked after knowing each other for 2 months. We were married for 5 years and he would beat me. I left him and took our two sons with me.\n\n5 years later I married the most wonderful man in the world. Racism is not an issue he is Arab and I am white. My family loves him as well. we have been married for a year and will be married for the next 100.
895706
I do not think gay marriage or abortion should be made illegal.  I am simply an economic conservative and morally apathetic.  I believe drugs should be decriminalized and marijuana legalized.  I think the drinking age should be lowered as it serves to curb binge drinking, alcoholism and drunk driving, as people become accustomed to drinking earlier in life and it does not gain the "forbidden fruit" aura.  I am economically conservative, however, and feel that taxes show be dramatically lowered, the welfare state shrunken, and national security buffed up.  I feel that my moral stances make me different from many conservatives
683922
18\nWithout consent, 16 with.  However, you could go to court and overturn a parental denial of marriage.