Well lets see, first of all having children is also a decision, you can choose whether or not to have children, it’s not as if when you get married children are somehow a requirement. If you do decide to have children then you’ve made your bed and you need to sleep in it if it doesn’t work out.
In Catholic teaching, the only thing inherently wrong with cohabitation is scandal. If you live together, it’s assumed (even if it’s not true) that you fornicate. Thus, other people look at your relationship, assume you believe that premarital sex is acceptable, and that might influence their opinion of premarital sex, leading them to commit a mortal sin. If you were somehow able to live together in secret, theoretically I guess there’s nothing technically wrong with that.
Practically, the Church teaches against cohabitation because it’s seen as a weakening of the value of marriage. Think about it: you’re cohabitating one day, and you’re married the next. What has changed? Just the rings. So then what’s the implied value of marriage? Not much. It’s a very different situation when you’re living separately, get married, then have to move in together and start a home.
Of course, if you reject Catholic teachings, then those arguments can be quickly dismissed.
Well lets see, first of all having children is also a decision, you can choose whether or not to have children, it’s not as if when you get married children are somehow a requirement. If you do decide to have children then you’ve made your bed and you need to sleep in it if it doesn’t work out.
It actually is a requirement to be open to life.
The problem is that Catholics are discussing a Catholic teaching based on Catholic doctrine, and you’re attempting to interject non-Catholic opinions (I’m not trying to downplay your comments, just show how they don’t fit in the context of this discussion). If you want to debate the Catholic view of marriage vs. the protestant or secular view of marriage, that’s a different thread.
