WHICH PROBLEM EXACTLY IS MARRIAGE MEANT TO SOLVE?_ BY CLEMENT MWAKA ERNESTERICK

I am not convinced that marriage was ever intended to solve the full range of human problems. Rather, as a religious and socio-cultural institution, it emerged to regulate human relationships, ensure the continuity of the human race, establish moral and legal boundaries, and define the social status, rights, and responsibilities of those who enter it.

Across cultures and religions, marriage has functioned as a framework within which procreation, kinship, inheritance, and social order are organised. It provides legitimacy to family structures and creates obligations that bind individuals not only to one another but also to their wider communities.

The modern tendency to view marriage as the solution to loneliness, emotional emptiness, or personal dissatisfaction places expectations upon it that it was never designed to bear. Marriage may nurture companionship, love, and mutual growth, but these are fruits of a healthy union rather than automatic outcomes of the institution itself.

Therefore, marriage is less a remedy for human incompleteness than a covenant and social institution that orders human relationships, perpetuates humanity, defines boundaries, and confers recognised social responsibilities and status.

© Clement Mwaka Ernesterick 

- Kenya.