A Legal analysis study of the effects of modernity on marriage: the Kinondoni district case study

The perception of family values is bound to change from tribe to tribe. However, it can be generally said that it is incompatible with the development of mankind. At every stage in life, there have been family values that change with time. These values may differ from one tribe to another depending on various factors such as historical background, geographical conditions, the tribe’s exposure to outside world and the tribe’s preparedness to change with time. Marriage has from time immemorial been used as a nucleus of preserving these values. This objective is nowadays not clearly achieved since on the face of records it cannot be said for sure that marriage is a sacred vocation and blessed state. In the streets, one will come out with a different definition of marriage compared to what Lord Penance viewed it to be (or as it is defined by the Law of Marriage Act Cap 29 R.E. 2002 at S. 9). In today’s life many marriages no longer conform to the religious view of one woman and one man to the exclusion of others! When couples get married no one of them is quite sure that this union shall last for life. Marriage is no longer the fullest expression of Godly love between the couples. The possible cause of this is that many married couples do not value the holiness of their union. The dogmatic constitution of the Catholic Church (Lumen Gentium) says “Married couples...should follow their own proper path to holiness by faithful love, sustaining one another in grace throughout the entire length of their lives.” In this dissertation an analysis is made to realize whether preservation of family morals is contained as the society is switching to present time marriages. There is an exigent need of change in family law since the present time marriages affected by modernity (science and technology, free interaction and concepts of Human Rights) have little chance of preserving morals.