Monday, December 29, 2008

Postmodern nuptial customs

To begin with, congratulations to Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin on the arrival of their son, Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnson, who was a healthy 7 pounds, 7 ounces, when born Saturday morning. May God bless you all.

And now the cultural criticism: What's up with this "baby first, marriage later" thing?
Johnston . . . told the Associated Press in October that he and fiancée Bristol plan to wed in 2009 and raise the child together.
What's wrong with a private hurry-up wedding before the baby comes, so that a few years from now young Tripp isn't staring at his birth certificate wondering why his parents are listed with different surnames?

Conservative ought to support real traditional values: "Paint the shotgun white, Pa -- it's going to be a formal wedding!"

UPDATE: Linked at . . . the Village Voice?

5 comments:

  1. Because, R. S., we have forsaken shame in this current society. Thus, it even affects those of us that espouse traditional values. So, we have two no-nos in Bristol Palin's case. Sex outside of marriage and getting in the family way. Thus, your solution is correct. But, look at the way the abortion issue gets into this situation. Had they done it the old-fashioned way, there would be the issue of "Wow! I can not believe that they actually GOT MARRIED!" I think we traditionalists are a bit confused on this. Oh well.

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  2. By the time a child can get access in his own right to the physical birth certificate itself and find out his parents had different surnames, i.e., when he's an adult, he'd be old enough to know the facts of life and count to nine months and figure it out.

    This last part may not apply to Trig Truther Andrew Sullivan, though.

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  3. Apparently Sarah did push them to marry early, but without success. That doesn't have to be political.

    I don't believe that having no children other than those that were conceived after marriage can be a test of virtue any more. It's more a test of your willingness to abort, in other worlds it's a test of your total lack of real moral standards.

    When a test is normally passed by cheating with impunity, and the real consequence of the cheating is deadly for innocent bystanders, it's time to get rid of the test.

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  4. Because you can't fit into a really cute wedding dress or get blasted on wedding toasts until you've popped out the baby and lost the weight.

    Priorities, people!

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  5. In a number of jurisdictions, a child's birth certificate shows the mother's maiden name anyway - whether the parents are married or not.

    The birth certificate is not the big deal here.

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