Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Trivia - Marriage in Texas

Do you know that it is illegal to marry a first cousin and that this law is just now being placed on the books? And do you know that it is now against the law to be married before the age of 16, even with parental consent? It was 14 years old. On the other hand, in an Asian country, National Geographic pointed out that a law has been passed to forbid marriage before the age of 18, but in one modern instance, a man took a wife of 6 years of age! 1

I worked in Kazakhstan and learned of the practice of "taking" a wife. You like what you see, you forcibly take her to your home and declare her as your wife. Eventually in a few weeks, you and her go back to her parents and announce the consummated marriage. This is not practiced openly but still exists out in the countryside.

1 Aid Netherlands - Looking Deeper into Child Marriage