Dear Editor
Call me old-fashioned or even overly conservative, but, as an octogenarian, I can handle that about my rather negative view on the ever-increasing propensity of couples to cohabit without benefit of formally getting married. I think it's a sign that our society is going in the wrong direction in that regard. In the Sept. 26 edition of the News-Optimist, Becky Doig, in "From this Corner," commenting about her uneasiness with various aspects of common law relationships, certainly rang a bell with me.
I don't consider myself a prude or an overly formal type when it comes to human interactions, so the idea of common law relationships doesn't especially offend me on a moral level. What I find difficult about it is the implicit lack of a real commitment to each other in that kind of intimate relationship. It seems to me to be another indication this idea of "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" rugged individualism is cutting deeply into the fabric of the idea of society as people living together, with concern and commitment to each other's welfare, as well as their own.
What can be more fundamental to a caring society than the union of two people which could have the result of bringing about a new generation of that society? Instead, I see, in this easy and convenient relationship, the manifestation of the idea of the grand "ME" kind of individualism and a dismissal of the idea of a real commitment towards the other.
As Doig pointed out, sometimes a common law relationship can be thought of as necessary - at least in the short term. That's not the kind of relationship that bothers me. What concerns me is that, when common law becomes common in society, I sense an alarming trend away from a feeling of us as a society committed to each other as much as to ourselves.
Russell Lahti
Battleford
