Arranged Marriages should be outlawed in the US

Contrary to what my opponent believes, arranged marriages are not forced. Arranged marriages do not violate any laws, American or not, on slavery. You have used the term "Arranged", conjured images of oppression and abuse, and then expect us to believe it. In Islam, arranged marriage has two parts, "ijab" and "qubul", or in English "proposal" and "acceptance". The first is the stage where the parents of the child will go to seek out a spouse for them, as the general consensus in many Eastern countries is that love blooms after marriage, not before. Then, when they have found a partner that they find suitable, they let the two meet, and then give the ultimate choice to the child. In Sikhism, one can choose whether to have an arranged marriage or not, but if they do decide to let their parents choose, they are not forced, coerced, or made to do anything they don't wish to. Again, the choice is given to the child. I am not saying that the child isn't forced in certain circumstances, but then that ceases to be arranged, and instead becomes forced. It is important to know the difference between the two. In Hinduism, people aren't meant to stay celibate, so the parents will go out to find a spouse, and again give the ultimate choice to the child. I see you have mentioned illegal marriage in your argument, and the threat of being disowned being too much for the child to bear. This is a forced marriage and should not be taken into account when arguing about arranged marriages. You then go onto say that they are placed into a loveless marriage, which links in with my second point. . http://www.bbc.co.uk... . http://muslimmatters.org... . http://www.realsikhism.com... These marriages often end in a happy, healthy relationship. Arranged marriages are not "loveless". As I said in the last point, many Eastern communities are based around the idea that love flourishes after marriage, not before. In fact, according to statistics, countries which have arranged marriages in them have less divorces than America itself! Shouldn't we be promoting marriages that give the same amount of choice to the child, but just help them along the way? So, we have ascertained that arranged marriages are not forced, and that arranged marriages don't always end in divorce and a loveless life style. Therefore we now know that they violate no laws whatsoever. In answer to your point about the children not wanting to have an arranged marriage, I bring your attention to statistics. A recent report from Delhi found that 84% of youths wanted an arranged marriage, and were not forced into the decision. I feel like we are looking at this with our Western minds, and are not paying enough attention to the wants and rights of those who came from Eastern societies. Marriage and divorce in the USA has risen lately, so we need to allow those who wish to have an arranged marriage, which have been statistically proved to last longer, to do so. I am not saying that there shouldn't be checks to make sure that the marriage was consented by both participants, but we shouldn't discriminate against these people by not allowing them to do something which is perfectly legal. It is my opponents BOP to show us why they should be outlawed, but currently he has not done so. All my opponent has succeeded in is throwing random Articles and bad, uneducated facts at us. . http://divorcerate2011.com... . http://en.wikipedia.org... . http://www.ons.gov.uk... . http://www.statisticbrain.com... . http://www.statisticbrain.com... . http://www.plan-uk.org...