Eternity Commitment: The 21st Century Alternative to Marriage
The loving relationship where you never get Divorced!
by
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Chapter 6 Real Life Stories Many of you have heard horrendous stories from friends, family and the media about disturbing marriages and divorces. Following are a few select stories of real life situations clearly depicting how current marriage law with the dysfunctional financial incentives perpetuates a parasitic, self-serving, immoral behavior during and after marriage. These stories are contributed by professional upstanding men and women who were unsuspecting and ignorant of the aberrant financial motives and repercussions of marriage and divorce. Furthermore, the people in these stories have strong religious convictions and backgrounds. They are like you and me who followed the conventional path of traditional faith based marriage and truly had positive lifelong motives and aspirations when they decided to marry. The first story is contributed by Belinda. Belinda’s story This one’s for all you girls out there, and so my story goes……. I was married at 28 to a man that I thought ... (go to www.eternitycommitment.com for the whole story. See author's comments below)
This real-life divorce story is not unusual. It is a textbook example of “unjust financial enrichment” in this case, prescribed by law. This example is where family law creates the disincentive to work or contribute to a marriage which in turn leads to divorce. Then the person who ceases to contribute to a marriage gains unjust financial enrichment from divorce. An Eternity Commitment may not have transformed Belinda’s husband into a workaholic, but knowing that the gravy train was about to derail might have pushed him into being a little more productive and contribute to the financial wellbeing of the marriage. If it didn’t, at least he wouldn’t have been able to take monetary advantage of her. The financial partnership created with marriage often creates the dysfunctional motivation of free-loading, especially when there is a disproportionate financial contribution to the marriage. Belinda’s husband realized that because of Belinda’s success he did not have to work or contribute financially to the marriage. And if Belinda divorced him, (which, of course she did) he would have substantial financial gain because he knew she had stock options worth over $100,000 and a high-paying executive job. The husband’s procrastination during the divorce proceedings was to take further advantage of the benefits of divorce law, so that he could continue his financial support as long as he was able. In this case, he was able to prolong the actual divorce for three years while all along she had to continue to support him.
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About the Book
There is a relationship structure available to everyone in America today called, "Eternity Commitment". The EC is all about love and sharing your lives together. The relationship structure is in every way like getting married; however no marriage license is required. In addition, you may have your lifelong commitment blessed in a faith-based ceremony, and you may celebrate your lifelong commitment with a reception following your ceremony. There is an Eternity Ring you may wear to express your bond and commitment. And yes, you have your honeymoon.
Normally we don’t think of marriage as a financial business partnership, however we should. When you cut through the myriad of legalese and the way in which the different states define marriage, it all comes down to one thing -- marriage is a partnership of money, possessions and joint liability. This is not what our religious forefathers intended. State lawmakers have hijacked marriage from its faith-based origins and desecrated it. (The book explains how) Marriage today is an immoral institution promoting self-serving, aberrant behavior and greed. When the love is gone, all that remains in a marriage are the monies and possessions. The divorce business is a multi-billion dollar industry for attorneys.
State marriage laws do not enforce the primary commitment of marriage, "until death do us part". If one person desires a divorce, the courts will grant it. In many cases, the person breaking the commitment of marriage will profit financially. Thus, state lawmakers have created immoral incentives for divorce.
People marry for money, stay married for money, manipulate their spouse over money, and divorce for money. Where is the love? Where is the commitment?
About the Author
Todd Stephenson was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1954. He went to early schooling in Pennsylvania. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1969 where he now resides.
In 1978 he graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and Management. He moved back to Harrisburg in 1978 to work with his father’s business. In 1980 he returned to college at University of Texas at El Paso to obtain a Masters in Business Administration – emphasis in Finance. Todd is an avid investor and has strategies employed in his personal life for asset protection.
In 1981 Todd was hired by AT&T and relocated to Houston, Texas. He worked for AT&T for 3 years. He then worked for Lee Data Corporation for 4 years. Then he was hired by US West (now Qwest) and worked there for 7 years. After jumping between several other jobs and attaining a VP of Sales title, he started his own communications technology company. He has been president of this corporation for eight years.
Todd’s first marriage was at age 27 and then divorced two years later. He married again at age 34. Todd has one daughter from his second marriage. This marriage lasted 15 years. In July 2003 his second wife filed for divorce. This divorce resulted in substantial loss of personal wealth. Todd swore he would never marry again after experiencing the unfairness of divorce laws in Arizona. From this experience he conceptualized the Eternity Commitment structure for lifelong relationships as an alternative to marriage. Presently, Todd lives with his fiancé and has an Eternity Commitment.