When I heard that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were engaged, my reaction was, “finally.”
This celebrity couple has been together since 2005. They have since adopted three children and also have three biological children together. The media has hassled Brangelina about marriage since Pitt decided to adopt Jolie’s first two adopted children. But they’d chosen to avoid it for political reasons.
Consequently, a more important group of young people has had a lot to say about Brangelina’s lack of marital commitment: their children. They’ve basically epitomized the reason why marriage should come before children.
In January of this year, Pitt told CBS News:
We’re getting a lot of pressure from the kids. It means something to them and they’re, you know, they have questions when their friends’ parents are married and why is that? We will someday. We will. [But the kids say], ‘Get mommy a ring!’ Okay, I will, I will.
Unfortunately, Pitt and Jolie have minimized the importance of marriage by suggesting in their actions that marriage is not necessary when having children. For many Hollywood couples, it’s obviously not. But ladies, I have to earnestly submit to you that this is not the case.
Pitt and Jolie have provided us with a bad example of building a family. Their approach was backwards. They had children outside of marriage and now they’re trying to create a solid foundation for those children by getting married. Jolie freely admitted this in a 2007 interview with Marie Claire when she said, “We’ve gone the back way around.” She then said the children were a reflection of their commitment to each other. But this is a selfish philosophy because the children have been voicing their need for a committed family through marriage. It’s what they need to feel security and comfort.
Marriage is a necessity in relationships that involve children. It’s a promise that strengthens parenting. Marriage provides a sense of comfort for children, and the Brangelina children understand this and have made it clear they need this security. And their desire for their parents to marry says a lot about the importance of getting married before having children.
I’m pleased this couple has finally decided to get married, but I do pray the union strengthens their relationship. They’re obviously very devoted parents, but they’re lacking in some family values. I pray they take the marriage as seriously as they’ve taken on parenthood.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may be an attractive couple, and they may possess star power, but their priorities are way off when it comes to relationships and building a family.
Ladies, I pray you’re not encouraged by this celebrity couple. I pray you don’t assume it’s okay to have a baby before getting married, or worse, to have a baby in the hopes of having a boy commit to you. Maybe Pitt and Jolie will make it forever. I pray they do, for the children’s sake. But all too often, women are left to take care of their children alone because the child’s father has decided that marriage is just too much of a commitment.
Taking your time to find the right man should be your first priority in a relationship. Making sure he is the right man should be the next step. Marriage comes after and then having children. This is the traditional way of building a family. It’s the only way that secures a family and provides comfort to both parents and all children involved.
Ladies, what did you think when you first heard about the Brangelina engagement?
