Tradition appears to be the last excuse of men who has no other justifications. You are correct that American Ideals are based on freedom and choice. What choice does that little girl have? What choice do your women have in a culture that is designed to enslave them? You are correct that the modern world has a higher divorce rate...not because anyone feels they should marry someone of the same age...but because both women do hot have to avoid culturate isolation if they decide a divorce is in their best interest. They decide what is in their best interest. Our society does not pick their spouses...or cast them aside after they have had a marriage. A man can only be a man without having to control the actions and choices of a women. A real man earns the affection of a women and does not hide his insecuties under the guis of religion or custom. A real man is secure to let his women speak with/associate with/ and choose a man of her own. Only a coward needs to control them/control what they wear/whom they meet/ as early as possible to avoid feeling as weak as they truely are.

To defend a marriage as a result of a card game is distgusting and makes me sick to my stomach. Anyone whom defends such action is weaker than any women I know.