The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Richard P. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Research on the Sanctity of Marriage
"If you make one mistake when the moon is bright, then they tie you to a contract when you make it every night." ~ Ali Hakim, Oklahoma!
It's a fun musical. Oklahoma!, a Rodgers and Hammerstein production from 1943, is filled with quality dance and music. The landmark play also provides a remarkable commentary on many different aspects of life. The characters are rich and poor, cowboys and farmers, sophisticated and plain, American and foreign, honest and crooked. Such a diverse cast delivers a packed two hours of life. As I've studied about the sanctity of marriage, I couldn't help but draw certain similarities between Oklahoma! and real life.
In the musical, six main characters are involved in some type of romance. The clean cut and honest Curly McLain and the crooked Jud Fry are both interested in Laurey Williams, the sweetheart of the play. The other plot involves the more adventurous and naive Will Parker and the sly Persian Peddler Ali Hakim. They are both pursuing Ado Annie who is absurdly flirtatious and unfaithful to suitors. Using these six characters, with two interesting "love triangles," the writers compose a fantastic tale of life in the early 20th century.
Curly is both cautious and uncertain as he tries to court his love Laurey while Jud is more heavy-handed and forward about his intentions. Curly represents the "classical approach." He's deeply in love with Laurey but is unwilling to claim all of her time and attentions until the proper juncture. His cautiousness aids him in his endeavor, but her charms eventually lead him to propose to her with nothing but his skills to offer. Jud represents a more vicious character, not above playing with a stacked deck to obtain his prize. Eventually Curly marries Laurey.
The triangle involving Will Parker, Ado Annie, and the peddler is a little harder to summarize. Will is a long suffering admirer of Annie but finds her to be extremely flirtatious with other suitors as well; including the peddler who is not above floating from one girl to another without ever "being tied to a contract." Will eventually leaves town on a cattle drive to Kansas City and wins a roping competition. This prize gives him the $50 that Ado Annie's father requires for a marriage proposal. While Will is gone, the peddler slinks in and soaks as much enjoyment from Annie's attention as he can. The bright eyed and bushy tailed Will returns to propose only to hear that Annie has been having fun with other “fellers.” Once again the more honest of the suitors wins out, and even the peddler turns up at the end of the musical having been "tied."
How does this relate to life? Unfortunately, more people carry on a relationship that is reminiscent of marriage acting like the peddler, Jud, Ado Annie, and Will. Casual and carefree, they go from one "relationship" to another and leave a swath of hurt behind. Today that "swath" goes far beyond hurt feelings. The list now includes abortions, drugs, a redefining of marriage, and most abominably, the breakdown of the family.
In the book "How to Win the Culture War," author Peter Kreeft talks of "Satan's Spectacularly Successful Seven-Step Sexual Strategy." The steps are, in order: to win souls for Hell, the corruption of society (a society that makes it easy to be bad and hard to be good), which is most easily accomplished by destroying the family, which is best destroyed by ruining a stable marriage, which is destroyed by ridding the partners of sexual fidelity, which is destroyed with the sexual revolution, which was and is propagated by the media.
Take dating. The media boasts that the dream of a typical male teenager is to find a beautiful girl, get her to focus on him, and get her out of the home (and away from their families) and alone. "Hopefully" they become the enchanting young couple that "everybody" dreams about. I'm not saying that this behavior is evil, but it can be the beginning of a damnable process that disregards God's sanctification of marriage.
People say that the Bible is God's love letter to us. I don't necessarily disagree with this, but by putting it under that heading we miss the power of God's commandments scattered through every page. That aside, if this is true, if this is representation of the ultimate love (Romans 5:8) that commands us to think of people as brothers and sisters in Christ, children and servants of the Most High; why do we not follow it?
It goes back to the seven steps. I think the Church has laid down its reins, that is the very power and energy of God, and allowed the sexual revolution to corrupt life; one "relationship" at a time. This casualness toward the glue of a healthy society ought to be abhorrent to every Christian. We can't have people practicing “breaking up” and not expect them to divorce after getting married. We can't expect people to not be lesbian or gay or practice masturbation if they don't understand what marriage represents and what holds a healthy society together.
The union between a man and a wife is the union that God chose to represent His perfect love for the Church. It's the only union that He uses to connect Himself to the Church. To the individual He is a father and king. He is the husband of the Church. And we defile all that with our sinful attitudes.
It's a harsh view and requires a lot of thought. Though I love the fictional characters of Oklahoma! (I am portraying Will Parker in the 6 Stools and a Folding Chair Drama Club’s performance of Oklahoma! in May 2010), the same casualness displayed by them is dangerous in real life. This casual attitude allows us to become a little too familiar with "temporary" unions between a man and a wife.
God made marriage. Marriage ought to glorify God. If the point of life is to "To glorify the Lord Jesus Christ" then marriage ought to be glorifying to God. The current "understanding" of marriage is nowhere near that level. Today it is little more than a contract, a mere piece of paper that represents a legal process that one must undergo before deciding to find another "mate."
In Oklahoma! the peddler's song continues "It's getting so you can't have any fun...." It's not because "every daughter has a father with a gun" it's because the truth is lost. The only problems we have with morality are found when personal desires lay inside a sexual relationship outside of the lasting covenant that God has made with His people. In sin there is no truth; only fun, and that doesn't last long.
