Religion study about Romantic love

Only a couple of generations ago, and still today in many cultures (as portrayed in our class film Arranged), the idea of basing a marriage on romantic love was unheard of. There were many practical reasons for marriage; romantic love was not one of them. Our contemporary expectations around marriage seem to be based on the idea that as individuals we alone are in charge of the decision of whom to marry, and that romantic love—being “in love”—is an appropriate basis for that decision. And yet, according to Statistics Canada, over 40% of all first marriages in Canada end in divorce. What does this tell us?

For this assignment you will reflect on the link between marriage and romantic love and write up your own thoughtful opinions in a discussion paper, in preparation for an in-class discussion on Monday June 24th. Some questions you might want to consider include:

· Is romantic love an appropriate basis for marriage, or has it been unhelpful overall in bringing marriage satisfaction?

· Does, as Alain de Botton argues, our romantic culture place “excessive imaginative pressure” upon marriage?

· Should the choice of whom we marry only be left to us as individuals? Could it, in fact, be liberating to not have the onus of choice on your shoulders?

· Is an arranged marriage an attractive option? Could you imagine it for yourself?

· Does online dating increase or decrease the chances of finding a suitable marriage partner and creating a committed and loving attachment bond?

You may use one or more of these questions as a starting point or come up with another one. In writing your paper you need to reference at least one article. This could be a quality article of your own choosing, one in the Coursepack, or one of these articles posted on Brightspace:

· Alain de Botton (British philosopher), “Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person”

· Daniel Jones (editor of “Modern Love” column, New York Times), “Destiny on Demand”

· Tom Inglis (Irish sociologist and author of Love), “Romantic Love”

· Dan Slater (author of Love in the Time of Algorithms), “Delivering More Love than Jesus”

General Guidelines:

· Include a bibliography of sources used, and use in-text citations or footnotes throughout. You may use either MLA or APA format.

· In the interest of saving paper, use 1.5 spacing, double-sided if possible, no title page and do not start a new page for your bibliography.

· Due to the class discussion component, late papers will not be accepted unless you have a medical note. There is a 10% grade penalty for not showing up for the class discussion.

Marks will be given based on evidence that you can clearly:

· Explore at least one aspect of the topic, referring to at least one article

· Articulate your own views, explaining the reasons for your opinions

· Write a well-structured, coherent paper without spelling or grammatical errors, and with properly formatted citations and bibliography