Kentucky native Donna Pollard was 16 when she married a 31-year-old man. With proof of her mother's permission, a judge signed off on the marriage. Young and starry-eyed, she was convinced they would be together forever. The couple had a child a year later. But Pollard left not long afterward when her husband became abusive.
Although it might sound like an outlier, Donna Pollard's story is far from unique. Between 2000 and 2015, there were more than 200,000 child marriages in the United States.
10,000 of those occurred in Kentucky alone. Most states allow children as young as 16 to get married with parental permission. However, some also have loopholes that allow marriage at much younger ages.
For example, an old provision in Kentucky law says that if a girl is pregnant, the age limit simply doesn't apply so long as she is marrying the father of the child. How's that for problematic?
After years of looking the other way, lawmakers are finally feeling the pressure to do something about child marriage in America.
The Push to Outlaw Child Marriage
Kentucky lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would prohibit anyone under the age of 17 from marrying in the state. However, it was delayed due to last-minute opposition from the Family Foundation of Kentucky, a Christian lobbying group. They were apparently concerned about parental rights being ceded to the courts.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Julie Raque Adams, took to Twitter to voice her displeasure: "It is disgusting that lobbying organizations would embrace kids marrying adults. We see evidence of parents who are addicted, abusive, neglectful, pushing their children into predatory arms. Appalling."
Eileen Recktenwald, executive director of the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs, didn't hold back in her criticism of the opposition. "This is the legalized rape of children. We cannot allow that to continue in Kentucky and I cannot believe we are even debating this in the year 2018 in the United States."
Amid growing public pressure, a compromise was reached this week and Kentucky's ban on child marriage is now moving closer to a vote.
But the fight continues in other states.
A Religious Tradition?
Last year, we wrote about a proposed child marriage ban in New Jersey that was ultimately vetoed by then-Governor Chris Christie after he received strong objections from religious groups.
Just this week, a child marriage bill in Tennessee was nixed because Christian lobbying groups there want to concentrate on overturning the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling. A fight over child marriage would only complicate these efforts, they argued.
The incident sparked harsh criticism from gay rights groups, who question what kind of person could be convinced that same-sex relationships are immoral and at the same time turn a blind eye to children as young as 12 or 13 getting married off to older men. How do you square that behavior with Biblical values?
The End of An Error
Some marriages that begin at a young age turn out just fine. However, others don't. And the downsides of allowing such a practice are abundant.
Teen brides tend to end up with less education and higher rates of poverty, and are more vulnerable to domestic violence, according to several studies. Moreover, these marriages don't tend to last a CDC report from 2012 found that teen brides are two-thirds more likely to get divorced within 15 years than those who marry later.
And how's this for a concerning statistic: only 14 percent of child marriages involve two minors proving that this isn't simply a matter of two teenagers falling madly in love. The vast majority of the time one person is older. Sometimes much older.
Religious tradition or not, this screams exploitation.
Even more startling: with no minimum marriage age (such as in Kentucky), a predatory adult who seduces a youth can avoid prosecution for statutory rape simply by marrying the child.
"From a public policy standpoint, it definitely is beneficial to have children raised in the most stable environment possible," said Erin Jackson, a Chicago healthcare attorney who has written extensively about child marriage. "But I think it's a real fiction being perpetrated that a child is better off being raised in a household that is comprised of a teenage girl and her statutory rapist."
Although certain pockets of opposition remain, the practice of child marriage appears to be on its way out - at least here in America.
97 comments
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Barry
I feel no marriage should be allowed Prior to the girl being 18. Federal Law for being an adult
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flugo
Good stuff!
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Tom B
Barry...i agree with you...if she is not old enough to vote, she is not old enough to get married (even with parental permission)...and the legal issue of the State taking responsibilities from the parents is, to me, no issue...if parents did a better job with their children, they would not want to marry as minors (when they appear to be substituting a marriage for a faulty family)...our society is letting social media, video games and violence dominate the lives of our children...and the results are not just seen in child marriages, but in various addictions and more violence...the lack of family values is making it necessary that the State and the schools take more responsibility for children...and if people think this approaches a police State, then take steps to be more family oriented...Peace...Tom
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me
STOP BLAMING INANIMATE OBJECTS AND START BLAMING THE LIVING AND BREATHING ONES... Video games, movies and whatever else is out there, are not to blame for the way the children or adults act.
Simply put, this is a way for parents to cop out of their duties, it's their responsibility to talk with their children and to let them know what is RIGHT and WRONG. You are there to be a parent, NOT a friend (you can be a friend when they are out of college), if you don't teach them that the video games, movies, books, comics, etc. are not real and give them a better understanding that this is entertainment and nothing more, then you can't fix the problem. I have yet to see a video game that promotes child brides....hmmmmm. We need to discipline kids for their actions, not coddle them and let them win the conversation with a tantrum (there shouldn't even be a conversation with any child under the age of 16, maybe a compromise with 15-16 yr olds, but you are the PARENT), but by all means I'm not saying go and flog them, (though this may be a good learning experience) make sure the punishment fits the crime.
Recent news: school shootings....guns are to blame! Wrong, how about the proper training with guns. We have yet to ban alcohol, no one seems to be in an uproar when a family of 5 is killed by a drunk driver.
Smoking, god forbid we ban that, how many does this kill on a regular basis and is available to minors. How many kids have died due to smoking or smokers....hmmmmmmm, still not banning or doing any marches, school walkouts or anything to stop that billion dollar business. What about bullying, how will you march to this and how will you get people to stop this. I really don't see a lot of bullying in the movies by other kids and if there is WHY ARE YOU AS THE PARENT ALLOWING YOUR CHILD TO SEE THIS????? WHEN WILL PARENTS TAKE BACK THE RESPONSIBILITY AS THE ADULT? What mother takes their 13-16 year old daughter to see 50 shades of Grey? Yeah I know it says you need a parent or guardian, you will say see it is the movies, wrong again, it is the parent for taking them to it. Long before movies, video games, smut books, and comics we have had death, murder, shootings, genocide, etc., um..where are the video games that made these people do bad things oh gosh darn there were none. People are sometimes just bad and do bad things.
Wait for it....ahhh...yep that 9 letter word pops into my head again PARENTING teach them RIGHT and WRONG and teach them to be happy with what they have in life and strive to do better through means of good hard work.-
Tom B
Until our primary teachings are love and compassion, an absence of judgment (including no judgments about race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc), and the primary desire to help others, the problems (violence, drugs, lack of respect, etc) will remain...arguments about guns, drugs, etc are just rhetoric, and enable people to avoid what should be the real teachings...Tom
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ceracerda
Amen! How can a child learn love and compassion if they never shown it?
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Z Budapest
Shame on you America. Old goats pedophiles get to train a kid to be a servant, (since wife is that) and allow sexual predators to own them. Where is the Mother?Father are they so stupid to allow this? is this for money? Who sells their kids to aging old men? Old men, POX ON YOU for doing this evil. May you find it impossible to sex up these kids. May your fates punish you severely.
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Minister Adam Valles
While I can agree that Federal law states 18 makes you an adult, the Federal law also states the age of Sexual consent is 16. I find it funny that they had to mention the statistics in the child divorce rate, "a CDC report from 2012 found that teen brides are two-thirds more likely to get divorced within 15 years than those who marry later." These are some stats I found: 19,353,568 marriages end in divorce within 8 years. Over a 40 year period, 67 percent of first marriages terminate. About 57,800 minors in the U.S. ages 15 to 17 were married as of 2014. Just five of every 1,000 in that age group, a Pew Research Center analysis of 2014 data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey finds. Lets not get political and jump on any bandwagon, lets look at real facts and make educated choices from there: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/01/child-marriage-is-rare-in-the-u-s-though-this-varies-by-state/
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Kimberly
Id be interested in seeing the stats on christian child marriage to that of islamic child marriage. Whom do you suppose is the real problem religion with child marriage.
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Victoria
The last paragraph of the pewresearch.org article: "estimates of child marriage are subject to accurate reporting by survey respondents. To the extent that some people may be less willing to say that they (or a household member who is ages 15 to 17) are married, this analysis could underestimate the prevalence of child marriage in the population."
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Joseph.martin
I feel no marriage should be allowed Prior to the girl being 18. Federal Law for being an adult
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Milton
"Donna Pollard was just 16 when she got married. Now, she works to help other child brides." So she is pro child bride and an enabler. Wow what a horrible person.
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The Doctor
Gilbert grapes I cant tell if your being serial or snide. She was 16 and like most kids with poor parental guidance made a bad choice that our laws fail to protect her from herself while her hormones are raging.
She now works to help child brides recover from the frequent negative fates those who follow that path find themselves suffering in.
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Milton
Ya got me. I was ripping on the word choice for the caption. It should have read "Now, she works to help stop other child brides."
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Patricia
If you read the caption again,,,"she helps to rehabilitate child brides..."
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me
You are right on that one, it should be "helps to stop child brides and rehabilitate those left in the aftermath of stupidity of a parent" if a kid can't drink, smoke, or vote then you shouldn't be wed to the adult down the road so mommy or daddy can relinquish their duties as parents. fist bump.
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Lea Weisenbach
I had a couple of friends that were from Kentucky..Well one was married at 14 and her husband had her dancing topless at 16. She had a very sad life. She finally got free of him when he went to jail..After that I lost contact. These laws are just more religious abuse in imprisonment of women.. It needs to end..Only married are of legal age..18.
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The Doctor
Honestly 18 is still too young. Based on current studies we are still very much in the grips of puberty till about 24. Combined with the studies that marriages begun when both are around 18 rarely last more then 3-5 years it seems to suggest we just are not emotionally mature enough till around 23-25.
Really outlawing marriage and having children till 24 seems a damn fine idea to me. Mandatory birth control and if needed abortions till 24 should cut down on alot of the unwed mothers issue and unwanted children ending up in nightmarish foster care.
We also should really outlaw religion based lobby groups as those seem to exist to try to force their faith on others and spread nonsensical archaic views.
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KW. Christian
"Based on current studies we are still very much in the grips of puberty till about 24."
Displays a fundamental misunderstanding of how our brains develop. 1st off, no studies claim we're in puberty until 24. That's scientifically incorrect:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puberty
2ndly, yes the brain continues to develop until about mid-20's. That's not the same as "not being able to make a decision." We allow people in their teens to work jobs and drive cars in in some cases be emancipated, and they get along just fine.
Plus it's hard not to notice the slight hypocrisy of this article, and yet otherwise The Visionary is running an article praising teens for gun safety laws. So I guess they're smart enough to be talking about politics we agree with, but not when they make life decisions we don't like? Hmm.
http://drrobertepstein.com/pdf/Epstein-THE_MYTH_OF_THE_TEEN_BRAIN-Scientific_American_Mind-4-07.pdf?lbisphpreq=1
https://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_myth_of_the_teenage_brain
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-moshman/adolescents-and-their-tee_b_858360.html
https://themompsych.com/2013/05/05/three-myths-about-the-teen-brain
https://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_myth_of_the_teenage_brain
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DrRGRivera
DUE TO THE FACTS THAT THIS IS HAPPENING HERE IN THE U.S,, I AM GOING TO NOT SAY MORE BEYOND THIS..... LINE UP ALL THE PEDOPHILES [AN ILLNESS THERE IS ACTUALLY NO CURE FOR AND FOR WHICH FAITH IN GOD DOES NOT UPHOLD NOR ATHEISM] AND RETURN THEM ALL BACK TO WHERE THEY WERE BEFORE THEY WERE EVER BORN....BEFORE THEIR DNA EVER COMBINED. A LIFE LONG ENDEAVOR WHICH DEMANDS CONSTANT VIGILANCE AND DIGILANCE O3 OUR CHILDREN WILL NEVER BE SAFE.
BUT THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN. SO THE PROBLEM IS HERE TO STAY LIKE SAND SLIPPING THROUGH YOUR TIGHTLY HELD GRIP. ONLY FUTILE ADVISE IS, 'NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER SURRENDER. INCREASE IN NUMBERS BECAUSE PEDOPHILES ARE.
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Lea Weisenbach
I know a lot of Atheist and they have more morals than any religious person I know..They have no one to blame and that responsibly for their own being.
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The Doctor
I actually spoke of this and references the article on here from last year a bit back during the mormon cover up of womens abuse article and had the radical christian extremists come at me saying its not the christians that cling to this archaic and evil practice.
Thanks ULC for covering it again.
People who place their faith above modern sensibility and reason are all cut from the same cloth no matter the holy text they follow. Be they christian, muslim, jewish etc this clinging to a crumbling facade of a past filled not with decency but decadence must end.
Your faith based traditions must not come before the rise of civilization. The strong preying upon the young and the weak is the act of predatory animals. Its simply not acceptable in humans. Those who think it is are not people but monsters in the guise of humans. One might even call such types demons if one is of the mind to think such terms had basis in something real.
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rch
Exploitation of children. Legalization of child rape. Enabling sexual predators. Allowing rapists to escape prosecution. These terms tell it all. I can't believe we are discussing this in the USA in 2018. Even more disturbing are the apologists who are supposedly religious folks. Where are the governors and legislators who are supposed to be protectors and advocates for our children? rch, pediatrician
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Alan
The governors and legislators were voted in by the "religious right" that want this to continue and will do anything to keep them voting them in....a sad state of affairs indeed.
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KW. Christian
Yeah it's shocking what happens when teenagers become mothers. Who knows how the children might turn out? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos#Early_life_and_education
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Tim
Like RC Pedophile priests? They've been transferred to a different parish to cover their sins.
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Beth K
I don't understand how on EARTH anyone could say at the same time that a child is below the age of consent (for sex), is unable to enter into any contract (per law), that parents cannot offer them to another for sex (child sex trafficking), is responsible to provide for their child until they're 18, and AT THE SAME TIME say that those children can marry (with parental permission) which relieves them of their financial responsibility for that child, that the child is presumed to have sex with their new spouse, enters the child into a contract - which the child might have trouble getting out of before they're 18.
Note that a parent of a child who is under the age of consent for sex cannot give their approval for someone to have sex with that child, even if the child wants it. At best it would be contributing to the delinquency of a minor. At worst, it would be child sex trafficking or an accessory to statutory rape. Unless they are giving permission for marriage. It's inconsistent.
While the children must give their "permission" for this, I doubt that in all or many cases they know just what it is they are entering into, and a parent can exert undue influence over the child to give that permission.
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John Owens
People should not marry before age 18, and they should not be having sexual relations before that, either. I think legal age of consensual sex is 16 is many places, but to make legal age of consent to sex younger than legal age of consent to marry without parental consent is ridiculous. If a man has a 15 year old daughter and a 30 year old man is sniffing around her, that father should give that 30 year old reason to go sniff elsewhere. If the daughter is encouraging him, something should be done to discourage that, too. It is disgusting that men OR women be sexually attracted to children, or even to adolescents.
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The Doctor
Owens this may be the only thing you have ever said I even remotely concur with. Really though even 18 is too young for marriage. Id say 24.
But do you at least recognize now that a major player in keeping this travesty legal is the conservative christian faction of our country? That they use biblical myths and archaic practices from an ancient era to justify marrying children off.
Its exactly like how in olden times daughters were seen as a useless mouth to feed so marry her off asap to one of the fathers drinking buddies asap,
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John Owens
T'Keren, regarding the child marriage among conservative christians, I just don't know where you are getting your information. It is not true, at least in any part of this country where I have spent any time. That would be mostly east of the Mississippi, from Louisiana to Illinois, to New Jersey, to Florida, and back, excluding New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and West Virginia. If that is a practice at all, it is not a mainstream practice, and it gets no publicity.
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The Doctor
Look owens I am not going to do the work for you. If you really care to educate yourself the information is out there. Including a girl who was forced to marry her deacon who raped her and fathered a child upon her when she was barely in the double digits.
Its estimated that about a quarter of a million girls under the legal age of consent where married to men over the age of 18 in the last 18 years in this country. With several of the states you mention like kentucky and florida being major contributors to these numbers.
But we both know you will roll your eyes go nope cant be thw white christians doing this foul vile and most loathsome ofpractice because you want to imagine its all only in non white non christian communities.
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John Owens
Why do you keep going to the racist stuff? You sling that out OVER and OVER and hope it sticks? You have no reason or even any moral RIGHT to keep doing that. Calling a person a racist is every bit as bad as calling them a racial slur. Try to let that sink in.
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Minister Adam Valles
Mississippi 4.4, Louisiana 4.9, Illinois 3.7, New Jersey 4.2, Florida 4.3, New York 4.0, Connecticut 4.6, Pennsylvania 3.3, Kentucky 4.1, and West Virginia 7.1 This is the number of 15-17 year olds married per thousand, with the U.S. Average being 4.6. Child marriage is more common in the southern and eastern parts of the US.
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John Owens
While 15-17 is not adult age, it is not quite child age, either, I don't think. Still, too young, though.
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James
What we got here is a failure to communicate.... The title child is being used too freely. When I grew up a child was a minor under the control of their parents. Usually 18 was the cut off. Sometimes 16. Now days they call 25 year olds children. Then you have the hooker situation. Some 14 year olds are way to mature for anyone's own good.( bad parenting) Check out the age of sexual activity these days The issue in my mind is self control and sexual immorality. Because not many parents find a teenager attractive. Look at the models, TV, advertising ; is all children and everyone looks the same. Not truly manly looking men or real women. It's all beta males and gender neutral females. We must redirect what is Attractive and desirable in the minds of Americans. Then after that issue is corrected, we can move to stomping out the fires left over by the blase. Reprobate mind set is pure evil.
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Carol
I feel this practice is so wrong. I feel for a young child to marry at 14 is more for a young couple of the same age or a few years older to be married. I believe that's what it was intended for. Not for a man 20, 30,40 and older to get married to a 14 year old girl or vice versa boy. I feel this is a way for sick perverts to diddle with innocent children to satisfy their sick sexual fantasies. Destroying the young child's mind, body and soul.
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biblical scholar
Republicans LOVE child brides, statuatory rape, sexualizing young female teens, and generally acting inappropriate towards girls under the age of 18. Look at how quickly the entire party fell over itself to defend Roy "14 is old enough" Moore. Or how they wave away Donald Trump's inappropriate behavior and comments when Ivanka was a child. He's probably had the hots for her since the crib.
One would think a bill banning children from marrying their rapist would be slam-dunk legislation, but Christians and Republicans apparently disagree.
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John Owens
You made every bit of that up, or got it from someone who made it up. Honestly, if all you are going to do is sling mud without any knowledge whatsoever about you are saying, you have nothing to contribute. I never heard any Republican say 14 was old enough, and I don't know how you know anything about "Donald Trump's inappropriate behavior and comments when Ivanka was a child," and I doubt you DO know anything about it. You are fantasizing.
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Dreamsinger
Woody Allen isn't a Republican. He married Mia Farrow when she was 17 (a minor).
Ronan Farrow attempted to expose him for pedophilia, and his character and livelihood were destroyed by many of the same Hollywood celebrities currently running the #MeToo movement.
And last I checked, Hollywood was (and still is) a crucial Democratic Party financial supporter. While the Republicans aren't innocent by any means, the Democrats are just as filthy.
Remember, there is no greater sinner than the self-proclaimed saint.
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Rev. Jon
You did not Post my Reply, no guts I guess.
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KW. Christian
Yeah it's shocking what happens when teenagers become mothers. Who knows how the children might turn out? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos#Early_life_and_education
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Z Budapest
Trump sexed Ivanka.Look at the way she pulls away from him.
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John Owens
How many times have you seen her "pull away from him?" Once? That could be because he wouldn't let her buy a new beamer or something.
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Rev. John D. Partin
John Owens, do you ever look on the internet at all, except to confirm by right-wing "news" your own views about things, but never to challenge those views and find evidence of charges against Trump and your other beliefs. Because there is plenty of evidence of Trump's having had sex with Ivanka: Donald Trump Won't Stop Joking About Banging His Daughter (https://www.mediaite.com/online/donald-trump-wont-stop-joking-about-banging-his-daughter/) Donald Trump Had Sex With His Daughter Ivanka--YouTube (m.youtube.com/watch?v=JStRh8N0qiY Donald Trump Joked He and Ivanka Had Sex in Common (https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/donald-trump-joked-he-and-ivanka-had-sex-in-common-w446872/) But why should I cite any more articles for you that you won't even read or accept, anyway, because you're too afraid to do so?! I found these under searching for: did Donald Trump have sex with Ivanka? on Yahoo. And there are many more articles about it, pages of them. So, go and see them for yourself, if you aren't too afraid to do it (which you are!!). Then, you can make more excuses for him again and "rationalize" away the evidence against him, as you always do.
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Ralph Miller
For a long time i considered this sick behavior.But after doing research,come to find out this has been going on for centuries.Not just in this country but other countries as well.I know people from Tennessee&Kentucky who have married young brides.some marriages lasted some didn't.I guess the real question would be who set's the age limits? Unless the child is being forced to marry someone older ,it's really non of my business
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The Doctor
Really Ralphy? is your last name wiggins by chance? Naw even little Ralphy Wiggins would know better then to say a child being coerced by parents and church into marriage is sick behavior.
Because it does not matter if it was practiced for centuries. Change is good. Stagnation is bad. We have grown as a global civilization and archaic practices from a time when the average life span ended at 25 35 or 45 do not belong in our modern world.
We now understand body chemistry, emotional maturity, have laws about the age of consent, the age to vote, the age to enlist in the military for very good reasons.
Would you let your 14 year old enlist and go fight in a war? I certainly hope not. We are to pity those children in places where they are forced to fight or forced to wed so early because they are denied a chance to develop into sound sane people.
Hell when I was 18 I could of easily hooked up with a friends 14 year old sister. the parents let her date and be sexually active with a 24 year old for christ's sake. But I even at 18 new a 14 year old was too young. It didnt matter if she was already sexually active.
If you feel its ok under any circumstance for a child to become a wife or even be sexually active then you sir fail at one of the major duties of a minister to encourage enlightenment and leave behind practices be they cultural traditions or not that harm innocent souls.
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Ralph Miller
T'keren Valmaz. Not all change is good.when i was growing up,we didn't see sex and violence on tv.(times have changed)now we see sex every where.kids as young as 9 are having sex and the parents have no idea.My kids are grown now,I've raised them the best i can(my job is done)your not gonna be there to watch your kids 24/7.their gonna experiment.sexuality is even incorporated in children's programming(Yes this is part of that change you refer too) Traditional family values are slowly disappearing.Children getting married,are the least of our problems.
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The Doctor
actually I firmly believe what you call traditional family values are archaic and have no place in the future of our species. I feel children should be engineered and brought up in communes by AI nanny bots and human supervisors that pass stringent psychological tests.
Most people like yourself for example imo have no business raising kids. I certainly dont plan to have any as I have genetic flaws like soft teeth that Id never want to pass on to another generation because Im not so selfish as to think I need to have kids of my own. I may look into adopting one day though when I settle down.
And sorry but violence was rampant in tv many decades before I was born. The Flintstones, popeye, the looney tunes all are far more dangerous to young minds then shows like the marvel hero movies that carry strong moral messages attached to their violence.
And no children being married off to degenerates is a very big problem far worse then anything you mention.
You likely also hate shows like the CWs hero series like The Arrow and Super girl that depict openly gay heroes. Something young people direly need to help inspire and encourage them to accept themselves and not let hate push them to suicide.
Are you not familiar with a black and white era movie child bride depicting the common practice of marrying of girls 9-12 to much older men in backwoods regions?
Are you unaware of how much sexual abuse children suffered back in the 40s and 50s and often called liars by closed minded parents who didnt want to hear about it. My fathers step father abused both of his older sisters sexually and impregnated one who was then forced to have the child and then give it up for adoption. She ended up self destructing on drugs and alcohol from the psychological damage of it all. Their mother was beaten so severely by the step father when she did try to intervene she ended up with brain damage and in and out of mental institutions and again the law turned a blind eye because the war on women then and now is very real.
So sorry but I am all to aware how thick the past is with horror for the helpless. You just seem to want to wear rose colored glasses and think an era filled with oppression and abuse was some golden ideal.
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Ralph Miller
T'keren Valmaz. You say you won't have kids of your own.....or is it,no one wants to be with you.(Cause personally I think your stupid)Your just another example of our misguided youth,that thinks they know everything.My kids are grown(raised them the same way i was raised)One's a school teacher,the other is a cop.You have a long road ahead of you.life is hard,even harder if your a dumb ass.
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Ralph Miller
All young people wanna do these days is cry,bitch&moan.you feel self entitled.We didn't have school shootings back in the day,or violent video games.And no we didn't have movies&tv shows depicting gay characters.Nobody wanted to see that(And it was not normal back then) And it's still not normal.
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Thinker
Huxley wrote Brave New World as satire, not as a parenting manual.
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The Doctor
So lets see homophobic, likes to make personal attacks on those with differing views, thinks highly of themselves and their own. So a braggart. Yeah you are definately not half as wise as a Wiggins.
You certainly paint a negative view of people from Miller stock. Then again those who worked the mills usually where of inferior genes and incapable of more complex ways of life.
Sorry to all the millers out there but you have a real bad spokesperson in ralphy here.
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Ralph Miller
You attacked me first.then threw your lifestyle in my face.you wanted to get personal.Let's get personal....Alot of people hate you,for this reason right here(self entitled little brat).people try to be nice and people like you always want to start an argument.to bad for all the Valmaz family.hopefully your the only retard.The Miller's will be fine.(were normal)
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The Doctor
Methinks you are befitting the very def of triggered little snowflake ralphy.
And frankly you attacked sanity first by suggesting archaic centuries old practices are acceptable because they have been practiced for centuries. You defend stagnation and attack change. Unforgivable sins in my eyes.
Oh and Valmaz is an ancient name for the lord of demonkind that came to the aid of mankind when a god demanded its followers wipe out all that did not worship them.
You also continue to resemble little Ralphy more and more. His dad is also a corrupt donut munching member of the blue mafia.
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Ralph Miller
I'm not understanding what your saying anymore.Your very stupid.probably came from stupid parents.people like you should be wiped off the face of the earth..I'm done with these conversations...DUMB ASS!
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AKConiferious
if you think that your 'job is done' because your kids are grown you fail as a parent. your kids will always be your kids unless you treated them poorly enough they want nothing to do with you.
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Ralph Miller
Akconiferious.My kids are grown with kids of their own.So yes,my job is done!
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The Doctor
Ive seen feral cats with a stronger parenting ethic then Ralph here shows. A parents job with their kid ends when one of them goes in the ground.
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Z Budapest
Children enslaved under the guise of marriage.Robed of their childhood.
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Tim
"fail as a minister"? Door breaking the commandments qualify you as a failure too?
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Rev Ned
It serves a purpose alright. Pedophilia!
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Mike L
Child marriage = legal pedophilia. Not much more can be said unless you live in a fantasy world and worship myths.
https://www.amazon.com/Date-Devil-M-Phillip/dp/1549780050/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
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Dreamsinger
Child marriage will end when the United Stated finally ratifies the Geneva Convention of the Rights of the Child. We signed it in 1995, but we're the only signatory nation who hasn't yet.
Every single country, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, has ratified.
So tell me again how everyone else is going to hell, simply for not being Christian? No wonder you guys were more than happy to fund Hitler and the KKK.
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Minister RVW
Folks, You got your minister's license the same way I did and not because we graduated from an Ivy League seminary. Our license is legal and gives us the right to perform as a minister. Reading some of the comments makes me sorry that some think it also gives the right to be petty and disgusting.
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patrick hardy
The group in Kentucky that was voicing their concerns about this bill ,because it had a cause in it that only the courts could decide if you could get married under the new age requirement , so they want to make sure that the patients had a say in their childs life and not just the courts , so the law makers reworded it , and they expect it to pass no problems, the group wasn't against the bill , just the fact that it took the patients out of any desictions
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Lee
A man once told me that smoking is good for the environment because it kills people.
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Patti
It's pretty simple - people cannot legally consent to a contract under the age of 18. Marriage is legally a contract. Why are we even needing to fight this! It is perverts who want to marry little kids.
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Preacher Man
The age of sexual consent for a female in Minnesota is 16. It varies across the nation as does the acceptable age for marriage.
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Daniel Del Pino
I would be curious of what the data shows on how many of these child marriages were boys? I know of 3 cases in Florida where the youngsters were seduced with the fantisy of sex, and then stuck into servant relationship.
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Joe shmoe
everything is o.k. in the eyes of "god" so long as you say GOD, you can even rape children! just say "its gods will"!
You people are sick!
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Tawn
As far as I'm concerned they should make marriage illegal until your 25. I married at 21 and that was still way to young to process all the emotions and changes that go on when you're moving into adulthood!
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Bob Anderson
Only organized religion and its blind adherents advocate such a barbaric practice as child marriage. It's just an excuse for dirty old men to rape young children...all in the name of god! Sickening.
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DeAnna Tyree
My sister married at the age of 16 to her 36 Year old beloved. Yes, we are from Kentucky. My sister was always extremely mature. While we all had reservations at first, we quickly realized that the older man in this case was quite devoted to her. He fit right into the family. He loved my sister. They had four children together. They had a beautiful marriage until his passing at the age of seventy. My sister has only good, happy memories of a man who cherished her and took wonderful care of her and their children. Not every case is black and white. Love does not fit into a tidy box. We must protect children. We must take care to examine the motives in all cases. One is not always equal to the other.
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patrick hardy
My great grand parents married like that , they were married something like 70 years , had a great marriage loved each other dearly ,
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Right Reverend Desmond Morris
I was married age 20 my wife was 16 we have been married for 38 years so who says it dont work out.
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Vivian T Harris
I can't even believe we are having this discussion. We have laws on age to drive, vote, drink etc. why wouldn't you have an age on getting a license to marry. Do you really believe these marriages are spiritual in nature? Look at it for what it is and stop this immoral, child sexual abuse justification.
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Father Fred
The biggest problem I have with this discussion is if we all secretly votes on the age of consent, or the delta between the ages, we would literally have thousands of responses. This debate is driven more by personal comfort than by a law we can say is righteous and just. And it seems people have more problems with the age division as anything. A personal friend is 62, and he married a Philippine girl who was 29. The approval of this union is almost as divisive as politics with some finding it evil and wrong, to those saying it's a loving relationship, (which it really is.) However, back to the point of this thread, I think the age thing can never be put to rest simply because we all have our standard which we believe is the way it should be. However, I think we ALL agree that the marriage of a young person must be consensual and without force or cohesion. I'm not so anxious about a 14 year old's marriage to someone they really love and want to spend their life with. I'm more concerned about the father who promises his daughter to a man simply out of arrangement. But sadly, in some religions and cultures it is the way they do things.
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The Doctor
Freddie my personal issue with old men getting married and fathering kids is they cant do a proper job of it. A 62 year old man can drop dead from a variety of high risk health issues leaving the young wife to raise children on her own and traumatize those kids with the loss of a parent. While death can happen for all randomly via accident some risks can and should be mitigated by common sense like old people knowing better then to try to recapture the feeling of youth by marrying young people.
In your example above a child born between them wont be an adult till the father is 80 or older. That is great grandparent age. That is madness in my book. That man wont be able to play games with their kids like tag or hide and seek nor catch etc. He wont be a strong male role model like the friends of the child will have. All sorts of psychological trauma will develop in such a child over the course of growing up.
Not to mention the generation gap. a man in his 60s wont be able to relate at all to the childs view of the world and even push potentially dangerous archaic views on the child.
Making families is for the adult not the senior citizen. If anything our country needs to put a ban on people over 55 from holding office or starting families.
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Tim
A lot of people posting on here sure seem to have a lot of ideas about banning things. Maybe they should ban you.
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secretary3rd
If she is young she can be control to believe that the earth is flat and her husband has all the rights while she has none. She would likely not have one of the 50 STD's not saying her husbands does not. Why stop at one when if your religion says that many wives makes a bad man good then have a stable of young sexual desire girls. If one gets a little old then by all means sell her off and get another virgin. You have a stable of young flesh they can get money by renting them out by the hour. There are a lot of very good Christian men who would be glad to have a young girl for an hour. Pay good money knowing that they are giving to your church and for that hour they will be rewarded. Other wise you guys are a bunch of sick puppies that should have your manhood place in a jar.
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Secretary3rd
I know a girl that is 22 years younger then I am. She is a beautiful young lady. If I every wanted to get marry in a heart beat she would be the lass. She is a good and I do mean good Christian. I'm the After Life as ancient as written time. But she is in her belief young. Even with my cold heart I can feel her warmth from that distant, but the age of the cradle will always be there. My grandfather rock the cradle of my grandmother long ago, how many years her senior for she had 15 children and both lived well into their 90's. As I have ask Mother is this child too young for me. As Mother has stated, "I'm the After Life, You by any definition is too old for her. May she be a teenager or into her 60's you would still be too old for her".
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Gwendolyn Lord
Marriage is really an outmoded construct based on contractual obligations based on property and inheritance issues. However~~~Since as a society we place some lingering value on it.... Marriage should be between two consenting adults. Minimum age should be 21. (Although ideally I like 25 or even 30 better.) No "child brides" even with parental approval. No state specific laws. Should be a national standard. Religion is NOT an excuse for legitimized pedophilia.
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The Doctor
Well said marriage is archaic and should be ended. Consenting adults can choose to live together or part ways as needed. Marriage seems to be used more as a tool to subjugate now as it was in ancient times.
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Tim
Why don't we also just Implement a contract system of five years that if it's not working after 5 years you do away with this god-ordained institution?
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Tim
Now that our government has officially fallen from Grace and approved gay marriage it won't be long before they approve marriage to animals or robots... And what's with that monogamy thing?
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Z Budapest
I hope these little girls grow up and leave these old men. let them have heart break. Stolen childhood will bite back!
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John Owens
But if they can leave at a time when the old man's health is failing, that would be even more poetic.
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Joseph.martin
Now that our government has officially fallen from Grace and approved gay marriage it won’t be long before they approve marriage to animals or robots… And what’s with that monogamy thing?
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Judy Riggenbach
No marriage should be allowed before 18. 21 would be better but i can accept that some people are mature at 18. Too many Christian sects as well as other religions are extremely patriarchal and treat girls and women as chattel. To these groups women exist to wait on men and have children nothing more. In this date and time there is no reason on earth for this to be accepted or legal in the United States.there is no crime in marrying someone older by a number of years IF it is your choice and IF you are an adult. For a child this is absurd. It is a detriment to a child's health to their mental state, to their education. And to their hopes of a future. Allowing this It devalues all of us .
I am in favor of ending all marriage involving anyone under the age of majority.
I was astonished when I found out that child marriage is so common in the US of A. Religion cannot be an excuse to override a child's welfare and rights.
Good for you!!! It is a shameful practice that should be federally outlawed, not left up to the states individually!
I for one would not want to be the one accountable for the sin of harming one of God's children , any culture that actively practice the marriage of a child is committing a moral sin of the worse kind, I would not want my 12 or 13 year old daughter marrying a 20 to what ever age, this girl will be mentally and physically damaged for life and the horrible fact is that it will be passed on to her children and so on for generations, this is why our Father in Heaven is so invested in the Family and the Geneology of the Family , it's his number one concern
This is outrageous!!!! What is wrong with this country? We either shoot our children in school or marry them off from elementary school to child predators!!!! Have we no regard for their futures and their lives? Please God, help us change these terrible practices and make this world a better place for our children. Thank you.
It won't be God that changes it, it will be up to us, due to our Agency we are suppose to "Choose the Right". When the choice is placed before us, as Christians we need to ban together and have our Laws changed to protect our most precious resource, our children.
I agree why take away a child's innocents . If you look at those pictures of those children they look lost and sad . With no help in site why and how can anyone do that to a child
I am in favor of ending all marriage involving anyone under the age of majority.