Thou Know'st My Daughter's Of A Pretty Age
In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Lady Capulet and Nurse discuss the issue of Juliet's age and the prospect of marriage. It is deduced that Juliet has hit upon the ripe old age of fourteen.
| LADY CAPULET | Marry, that 'marry' is the very theme | |
| I came to talk of. Tell me, daughter Juliet, | ||
| How stands your disposition to be married? | 70 | |
| JULIET | It is an honour that I dream not of. | |
| Nurse | An honour! were not I thine only nurse, | |
| I would say thou hadst suck'd wisdom from thy teat. | ||
| LADY CAPULET | Well, think of marriage now; younger than you, | |
| Here in Verona, ladies of esteem, | 75 | |
| Are made already mothers: by my count, | ||
| I was your mother much upon these years | ||
| That you are now a maid. Thus then in brief: | ||
| The valiant Paris seeks you for his love. | ||
| Nurse | A man, young lady! lady, such a man | 80 |
| As all the world--why, he's a man of wax. | ||
| LADY CAPULET | Verona's summer hath not such a flower. | |
| Nurse | Nay, he's a flower; in faith, a very flower. | |
| LADY CAPULET | What say you? can you love the gentleman? | |
| This night you shall behold him at our feast; |
In our current culture the prospect of fourteen year old girls getting married is viewed as ridiculous and in all fifty states (as far as I am aware) it is illegal. However, this has not been the trend during most of recorded history, even church history. Let us not forget that God Himself conferred motherhood on a young girl named Mary who was in all probability, about fourteen. Can we honestly say God was wrong, that he should have chosen a more mature recipient?
As Christians assess the situation in Texas of the polygamous FLDS ranch raided by authorities, we should keep several things in mind. First, if there is proof that underage marriage was going on, that is a clear violation of Texas law and those guilty should be held responsible. Second, if there were multiple 'spiritual marriages' taking place, those involved might not be technically breaking Texas law but they are guilty of adultery. God created marriage to be between one man and one woman and when Old Testament figures departed from this model (despite God's warning) the result was often disastrous.
So while I abhor the idea of these strange, adulterous, plural relationships taking place (particularly because they believe this is somehow God's will), I don't believe it is the role of government to step in and take control without a clear violation of the law. I also abhor Hugh Hefner's strange, adulterous, plural relationships but I wouldn't want the government to step in and take control there either.
As for the children born out of these tangled relationships, we'll have to wait and see how this plays out in the courts. I believe every child should be treated as a separate case, to ensure that those who haven't broken any laws are not painted with the same broad brush as those who have. I find it troubling that these children, some merely infants, are still separated from their parents while no criminal arrests have been made.
As Christians we should remember we are bound to our current culture far more than we realize. We may frown on the FLDS women for their hairstyle and dress but we should be careful about wishing for governmental authorities to exert pressure on anyone, simply because they are odd and not conforming to the trends of twenty first century American culture. Who knows when we will be considered the odd nonconformists?
