Let me make a point here. I'm going to go all by the Bible so kindly bear with me.

In Matthew 19:9 I quote the following: "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery," - Isn't this irrefutable proof that under certain circumstances (in this case 'sexual immorality') even God almighty Himself approves divorce??

Now, what is the Church's definition of adultery? It's not just unfaithfulness, as is today's common belief. Sexual immorality is 'any form of sex with the aim of self-gratification, involving no outgoing love'. So in short, asking your wife for a blow-job or demanding she do certain sexual acts just for your own pleasure warrants your wife a divorce in the name of Jesus Christ - obviously this goes analogously to husbands and wives alike. And at this point it is also worth remembering the times when priests would keep asking personal questions to wives - and telling them that if they enjoyed sex in any way they should confess it - and if they ever refused sex to their husbands they are guilty of disrespect - taking advantage throughout he whole time of the wide dress hiding their hands in the groin area - How about THAT for adultery?

This goes directly in the face of any bull's cumshot of a priest who refuses me Holy Communion after he may just as well have persuaded a 7 year-old boy to give HIM a blow-job, compensating him with a packet of Twistees and Haribo's and threatening him with hell if he tells his parents.

Good enuf for me! Must share!!!

I wasn't going to vote because I felt that this should have been resolved in parliament with no waste of time .. But our senseless parliament and the reverence they show to the church and its inquisitional, taliban heads is forcing us to take a stand .. a big YES vote to show that we are really free and not an ignorant egoist country !!

Totally agree with you - especially the last two points.

Agree with Albert. People who were happily married in the first place do not simply grow out of love but some tend to get lazy at/in or working for the relationship whilst others have high (sometimes unrealistic) expectations which are simply not met.
For children it is definetly a raw deal, whether it is seperation or divorce and from personal experience, they tend to shun if not be outright hostile to the new partner of their father/mother. Anyone thinking divorce might introduce a stable environment for the children is either lucky or is living in a dream.
It would be interesting to see how things would work out in Malta between ex spouses once divorce is introduced, as shockingly I have seen ex spouse threathening the new partner of the other ex even though the ex spouses have been seperated for years and there is no hope of reconciliation. Will legalized divorce decrease the bitterness involved?
I wonder if the way to go in the near future would be a pre nuptial agreement on the amicable division of the common goods as has become common in USA
Interestingly some of the seperated women I know said they should have listened to their mother's advice against marrying the poor sod!

Lastly as Auntie Mame says "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!

I agree wholeheartedly and it's not about NOT being religious, it's about facing reality and the fact that seperation ALREADY exists in malta, so what's divorce really gonna change? It's gonna help those people who are seperated and just living with a partner actually get married.

Some people are speaking about life in malta as all the families being happily married and suddenly as soon as divorce is introduce in malta, all these families will start divorcing, which is laughable.

I hope and pray that I never need it, but I don't see any problem in accepting it in malta. As you said, we're in the year 2011 for crying out loud..!!

It's not the first time that we heard about cases in pt 8!

People never really know what they are getting into when they are ready to commit. I know it may seem stupid for some people. but we have seen neighbours/ family members and friends fall out of love or get into so many arguments with eachother once they commit to spenidng the rest of their lives together. Living under the same roof with the person you married is not an easy job. your life changes completely. you are suddenly responsible for a household and your spouse as well as yourself. that is ENOUGH pressure to cope with. while some might say ''missek hsibta qabel'' who are we to judge?

Life is not a formula
a + b does not equal to c!

Life is infact a mystery! you really NEVER know what you'll find awaiting you on your doorstep the morning after you go to bed and think 'wow! my life feels good so far'
I'm afraid people aren't all that strong. Not everyone can make the best decisions for themselves. everyone makes mistakes! no one is perfect! why not give these people another chance at love????
It happens on a daily basis in other countries but all we seem to see are the wrecked families...what about the SUCCESS stories we hear about after a couple is divorced? how much better off the kids are with parents who are divorced and are now happy with the settlement , rather than having them constantly at each others throats and listening to them fight, blame and curse one another and wish one another dead?

That's enough to leave a much bigger emotional scar than parents getting divorced and maybe finding some common grounds on which to agree on in the end!

I was lucky I had the best childhood ever. My parents lived together and loved eachother for 38 years until my father passed away .. and all I can think about now are the good times me and my family had, the stupid arguments my parents used to have and the devotion my parents had towards the family. That's MY story..I was LUCKY!

but that DOES NOT mean that it is every individual's story. Why force them to go through a rough life because there is no way out of a 'mistake' their parents made? I agree that separation/divorce/annulment may bring pain to children too but ignoring the fact that they can live a better, happier life separated from all the chaos in a household and denying them this right is just egoistic and rude to be frank.

Thank You Mona for sharing your views :) and for offering the space to vent out :P :)

point 8 strikes me as odd... why would anyone get married in the first place if they were going through the things you mentioned? i would have figured not having anything in common automatically implies you would not even go out on a date with a person let alone get married.

The only problem I see with voting 'Yes' is that I'd have to consent to the stupid notion of spending four years of being "married and seperated without any hope of resolution bal bla bla bla...."

Why should anyone interfere in anyone's decision to get a divorce? Why should the government when/if a couple can get divorced?!

BTW

So love the pic!

I agree with all your points. Only thing which irks me is the fact that I should not be the one to decide. This referendum was rammed down my throat to appease some one's very big ego.Grrrrr

I will vote YES ... I fall under 6 my ex thinks that the only way out is to kid himself on never being married ... I never participated in the proceedings and never will.
If Divorce is approved, then he can apply for a divorce and i will be all to happy to sign the dotted line ... its been 6 years since we separated!