Marriage is that important?

this article by Debra Saunders and this article by Katherin Kersten both beat the same drum that somehow "Bradgelina" are bad people for not getting married, even though they have chosen to have a child- or more to the point they are setting a bad example.

I would suggest the opposite is true. in fact, I believe that they are setting a very good example- by showing that they each love and cherish the child, and that they intend to both be involved in being good parents to their child. taking this to the extreme of traveling halfway around the world to avoid the otherwise omnipresent papparazzi so that the child can come into the world in a more or less normal way. would it be more ideal if they had gotten married? probably so- but I think an argument can be made that perhaps part of the reason they have not chosen to get married is out of respect for the feelings and concerns of prior spouses (I am, of course, thinking of Jennifer Aniston here)

look, I don't really want to spend too much time analyzing the lifestyle choices of the rich and famous- but I do want to suggest that, regardless of one's views of family and marriage, it is rather foolish to condemn the choices of people who obviously care about oneanother, care about people outside of just the two of them, and care about the welfare of their children- after all, conservative or liberal, isn't that exactly the sort of behavior we should be commending?