Highlights
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family,” Justice Anthony Kennedy rightly argued in his majority opinion in the Obergefell v. Hodges case. Even today, when marriage is less likely to guide our lives, relationships and families, it’s still the case that marriage is without peer when it comes to calling forth the best in our relational lives.
There are outliers to be sure — the occasional cohabiting couple, the unusually devoted friend — who embody the relational ideals articulated by Kennedy in their own unique and powerful ways. But, on average, no other relationship between two people compares to marriage when it comes to embodying our highest relational ideals.
