arranged marriages should be outlawed

I also would regretfully like to inform him that I would not be able to keep the debate confined to the United States of America as it is a general topic and moreover I am an Indian resident and do not know much about the laws of USA . Therefore i 'll speak on this topic in general terms . I strongly believe that arranged marriages should not be outlawed . The biggest debate surrounding arranged marriages is that arranged marriages take no consideration of the person's will to marry but are a kind of imprisonment or punishment that a child is forced into even slavery as said by my opponent . But this is just what arranged marriages are not . "It should not be confused with the phenomenon of forced marriage". (wikipedia. org) An arranged is a marriage in which parents chose the bride or bridegroom but the prior consent of the child is taken into consideration generally. By the new-age definition, an arranged marriage is just a 'set-up'. Parents introduce their children to each other, who meet and may even date for some time(. http://www.rediff.com...) Arranged marriages are just a way in which both parents and the child get a chance in deciding the groom rather than love marriages where a parent's wish has no concern . I can tell all this because living in India has given me a first hand experience and I have attended a lot arranged marriages. In the modern day arranged marriages parents select the groom m/ bridegroom and invite the relatives along with the person to their place . Generally a boy goes to see the girl . Then both the boy and girl are given some time to interact about 2 hours or so and if they both agree to marriage and say yes then only they are married . So in a way this allows the consent of both the families as well as kid. I know it is difficult to know a person in an hour and decide whether you want to spend the rest of your life with him but it is not that just everyone gets lucky in love ! !! ! A lot of people exist in the world ,specially in India who have not even dated till they are 18 and don't fall in love later on even ! Arranged marriage as an option they can fall back on if they are unable or unwilling to spend the time and effort necessary to find spouses on their own. In such cases, the parents become welcome partners in a hunt for marital bliss. Further, in several cultures, the last duty of a parent to his or her son or daughter is to see that he or she passes through the marital rites. So what is wrong if two people who have found no new to love decide to mutually stay in relationship and see if the marriage can work out? . Also most love marriages turn out to be cases of intense passionate moments or infatuation leading to a very shaky life within 5 years of marriage. This is proved by the fact that divorce rates in USA,where most of the marriages are love , are about 50% compared to divorce rates in India , where most of the marriages are arranged ,which are a mere 1.1 % . (. http://www.divorcerate.org...) Modern arranged marriages, in contrast to classical ones, are not based on proscriptions but on pragmatic considerations. Often, parents can contribute to the offspring's life by utilizing the benefits of experience to choose the right mate for him/her. The common misconception is that the concept of arranged marriages imply traditional male-female duties. Modern western societies have also started practising arranged marriages in a cosmopolitan setting . (wikipedia. org) . Therefore if we think of outlawing such marriages we are restricting the right of the people to speak freely ! ! Moreover if something proves to be a blessing in disguise you should be happy about it and not criticise it !