2
Jun
When I ride the métro in Paris, I flip through the readily-available free magazines, “A Nous” and “Métro.”
I sometimes find weird news that send me rolling with laughter. Then I make postcards out of them.
Such is the case with “Cherche fiancee vertueuse,” which literally means “looking for a virtuous fiancee.” It’s a dating service for Eastern European Orthodox would-be priests.
Here are the instructions…
“Open an account, introduce yourself with pious details, click on the button “Lord Jesus Christ, son of god, have pity on us!” then wait to be courted by the servants of the lord.”
Before getting ordained, Orthodox theology students have to be married. If not, they become monks.
Hence, the rush.
Enjoy the homemade postcards and have a great weekend!
Kabuika
http://kabuikakamunga.com
Above is a postcard I made out of an ad found in one of those free daily papers one can pick up at any metro station in Paris. The central ad reads,
“Thierry, married man. Elegant executive with humor, fit to be seen, wishes to engage in extra-marital relationship in all discretion and security with woman in similar situation.”
The ad ends with a phone number, not a cell phone number, but a landline telephone number!
That’s kind of shocking since the ad is placed in a Western society where monogamy is the rule.
I recently asked the patriarch of my family why so many Baluba men have multiple wives. He replied, it is so they would not go looking for other women elsewhere.
His answer surprised me since I had expected Luba polygamy to exist for the purpose of engendering as many children as possible. Children are the primary reason for polygamy, my uncle admitted. A reader had guessed well, regarding the story “Multiple Wives.”
Luba men are polygamous in order to have a lot of kids, who will later care for them as they grow old. So yes, it is a form of social security system.
However, the Luba society allows men to marry several wives for a second very good reason.
“Men are going to run after many different women anyway,” my uncle said.
Personally, I don’t believe that all men (Luba or not) are all womanizers. My uncle himself has only had one woman for 60 years.
The patriarch carried on. Luba men are encouraged to make those relationships legal and public, One. So that there could be no illegitimate children. Two. So that those men would be fully involved in the lives of their several wives. This was a good way to keep them busy and decrease the likelihood of them wandering in the street looking for more.
So here is an idea.
If French men start to marry let’s say two or three women, they would be so occupied with their wives that they won’t have time for any extra-marital affairs.
You see, the Luba resolution could potentially be used to solve the French quandary.