It’s Complicated

We went to see the movie "It's Complicated" (Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin). It's very funny; lots of comical situations. But it also raises questions about marriage and divorce and grief. It shows that divorce is not a punctiliar reality, but a process. The 'letting go' period of a failed relationship may indeed take a long time. 'Learning how to be divorced' is the phrase (as I remember it) used in the movie.

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It seems to me that 'union' should be a contract validated by the government; and 'marriage' should be a different thing—a sacrament validated by the church (or other religious entity). That would separate and make more clear the two dimensions of modern 'marriage'—namely, a civil contract and a sacred commitment. Then those who just wanted legal matters clear could enter into a Union; and those who wanted to recognize their relationship in the context of faith and God could enter into a Marriage. In some countries it is done this way. The government shouldn't be in the business of sacraments.