I cannot "OWN" someone outside marriage

[m&m]

"Until we are ready to commit our lives in marriage, we have no right to treat anyone as if he or she belongs to us"

[Chas]

I am not convinced you can 'own' inside of marriage.

Marriage is a union of equals who each love, trust and respect each other. To believe your wife/husband belongs to you implies a degree of ownership which is not usually conducive to a long and happy marriage.

Never take your partner for granted. Never do anything which would destroy your trust in each other. Be best friends and work together. Enjoy everyday as you never know when they may be taken from you.

[maynayz]

I am not convinced you can 'own' inside of marriage.

Marriage is a union of equals who each love, trust and respect each other. To believe your wife/husband belongs to you implies a degree of ownership which is not usually conducive to a long and happy marriage.

Never take your partner for granted. Never do anything which would destroy your trust in each other. Be best friends and work together. Enjoy everyday as you never know when they may be taken from you.

Incorrect! Perhaps reading the Bible a little further will alude to the fact that when two gets married, they become one in unity and this is because they WILLFULLY, by virtue of the marriage as well as the love for the the other in marriage, give ownership of his or her body to the other in the ultimate sign of trust, loyalty and unity. Yes, ownership of one another is present and never goes away. This is obvious when you introduce one another to a friend or acquaintance: "Hi, this is MY wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/child/etc". Ownership, as it would be put in this context, is and always will be present. No way to avoid it or remove it.

[Chas]

Incorrect! Perhaps reading the Bible a little further will alude to the fact that when two gets married, they become one in unity and this is because they WILLFULLY, by virtue of the marriage as well as the love for the the other in marriage, give ownership of his or her body to the other in the ultimate sign of trust, loyalty and unity. Yes, ownership of one another is present and never goes away. This is obvious when you introduce one another to a friend or acquaintance: "Hi, this is MY wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/child/etc". Ownership, as it would be put in this context, is and always will be present. No way to avoid it or remove it.

One of the delights of the English language is where words have more than one meaning (a pain for those trying to learn the language) and shades of meaning and where meanings have changed over time. Personally I am not a great fan of the use of the word 'own' or 'ownership' in relation to humans because it can be taken literally and has connotations of slavery and restrictions of free will.

I may well introduce somebody as "my good friend xxxxx". This states there is a link between us, but never any implication of ownership by either party just as if I introduce somebody as my wife or son/daughter to explain the link between us. I do not 'own' my children, until they are 18 I have responsibilities towards them. The use of words does evolve. You only have to read a book written 50 years ago to see what today would be the inappropriate use of the word 'gay'. I do not know which version of the bible you were quoting from. I suggest a modern version may well use different wording. If it is the King James version of the bible, then it was written at a time when a mans wife and children were legally his 'goods' and slavery was legal.

If I recall, probably badly, an example of double meaning, Snoopy typing a joke as he sits on his dog kennel:

Joe Sportscar spent $100,000 dollars on a 12 cylinder Eloquent;
"You think more of that car than you do of me" complained his wife;
"All you ever do these days is wax Eloquent".

[m&m]

I am not convinced you can 'own' inside of marriage.

Marriage is a union of equals who each love, trust and respect each other. To believe your wife/husband belongs to you implies a degree of ownership which is not usually conducive to a long and happy marriage.

Never take your partner for granted. Never do anything which would destroy your trust in each other. Be best friends and work together. Enjoy everyday as you never know when they may be taken from you.

I did not say that you will take forgranted your partner. What i am trying to say is that until we are not ready to commit ourselves in marraige we have no right to treat someone as he or she belongs to us. As we mature, we long to be with our loveone and to spend life together. I understand what you are saying, yet i believe that we should not spoil God's plan and in HIs sight two people become one. The desire to was and is but it wasn't a struggle.

[crisipicada]

I believe that how we act is how we are convicted to and also, how we feel and what we believe to. I always count on my sister's reminders: "You are entitled to your belief, but you are accountable before God of what you believe". Other person's actions are govern by there standards and culture. So, the best way is to respect one's belief and culture.

[Edwin]

I agree with the first post that we cannot "OWN" someone outside of marriage. My opinion is that the objection to this language has a lot to do with people's modern conception of individuality. I know we try to stear away from controversial subjects that popular thought counters. Forgive if I am wrong, but I think feminism feeds into this. I don't object to the language of OWNERSHIP of one another of married couples. This does not mean that one of the married parters is a door mat for the other to walk on. This is one of those things where we agree or disagree with each other and then either compromise or not. Sometimes we agree and go together with he idea, and then sometimes we disagree and just allow the disagreement to stand, but not make such a big issue of it that it divides us.

Our marriage is a picture of the heavenly. We are the bride of Christ, and He is our husband to be.

I think of the words of the song, "Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me, not for the years of time alone, but for all of eternity." That is the chorus. "Jesus my Lord will love me forever, From Him no power of evil can sever, He gave His life to ransom my soul, Now I belong to Him, Once I was lost in sin's degradation, Jesus came down to bring me salvation, Lifted me up from sorrow and shame, Now I belong to Him, Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me, Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me, His precious blood He gave to redeem, Now I belong to Him."

[purex]

Wow, nice post. I like also the song. Yes, we are the bride and He is the husband.

[Edwin]

Wow, nice post. I like also the song. Yes, we are the bride and He is the husband.

Thank you purex. I have always liked that song; the tune and the words.

[eStu]

I agree with the quote you originally posted, m&m, the ideas and behaviours associated with belonging to someone is appropriate only after marriage.

I see there's a bit of a semantic issue with the use of the word 'own'. I suppose that for some 'ownership' conjures up ideas relating to property rights such as rights to sell, lease, exploit for profit, etc, that we're not comfortable applying to people. I appreciate that's not how it was meant though.

This thread reminded me of a song too, one from well before my time, 'You belong to me' by the Duprees (very old school) ... will probably be in my head for the next few days now.