In 2015, the United States Supreme Court upheld a decision to redefine the word marriage as a union between two people that includes those of the same sex. For many people, particularly those of the Christian faith, this was a hard pill to swallow. Many Christians proclaimed that the intended purpose of marriage was for procreation between a man and a woman.

A better question to ponder, however, is not who marriage is intended for, but what marriage is intended for. Once upon a time, marriage was revered as something sacred. Nowadays, the sanctity of this idea is so tarnished that people don’t even bother getting divorced; rather, they live their lives as though they are not married. #ImNotMarriedImSeparated

So, my question is this: when did it become acceptable to date while you’re still married? Um, newsflash: if you are separated from your spouse, then this signifies that you have a spouse, which then also indicates that you are, in fact, married. While marriage, once upon a time, was highly revered as a sacred union, it has now become so insignificant that people don’t even bother getting divorced anymore. Instead, they retreat to their lives as they previously were and simply update their statuses on social media. It seems also that our culture has adapted to this as well, as we have seen with several members of a certain celebrity “Klan,” — most notably the starlet who began dating rap mogul Kanye West before the ink was dry on her 72-day old marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries, as well as her younger sister, who followed suit, being paraded by paparazzi as her husband lay on his death bed ... but I digress.

And then there are those who boast monogamy and live like married couples without taking the procedures of making it legal, like multi-millionaire mogul Oprah Winfrey. Now this is just a concept that befuddles me, the idea that you love someone enough to commit to them, merge furnishings, bank accounts and share your life with but not enough to officially unionize before God and others. To them, all I can offer is “to each their own.”

Personally, I want to get married — always have. And I believe in marriage. I don’t think that marriage is for everyone, however, but for me, I want the security of a loving and legally binding oath. #IJS

#TheRealBlackCarrieBradshaw