What the Law Says About Love: A Critique

"Is there love in Law?" and the somber answer to that question is -- yes.

Sometime ago, me and my friend were talking about the concept of love and the unending theories behind it, and since that time I was taking up Persons and Family Relations, that was her question to me - whether the law speaks of love.

Art. 68 of the Family Code states that:"The husband and wife are obliged to live together, observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, and render mutual help and support"

You may ask these questions - "Why does the law want to meddle with people's  relationships?" Where does love begin and where does it end? What if couples DO NOT want to love each other?

In the first place, what does the law know about love anyway? Did law ever fell in love? I wonder if the law ever had its heart broken. It seems that the law presents its views of love as either overly ambiguous or too shallow.

The law seems to speak of love as if it were some compulsory right, such as a right to vote, or as if it were everyone's obligation, such as to pay taxes.

To be sure, love is neither an obligation nor is it a right. No one can be compelled to give love to another if he does not want to. You can either get love or give love for your own personal reasons, but certainly you cannot oblige a person to give it, more so, treat love as a birthright.

Love is learned and can be unlearned. If a person learns or unlearns to love another, it's entirely up to them.

Love is always bound by time. One can only love another up until one, or both, decides not to love each other anymore due to personal reason they may have.

And last,  Love as fictitious creation of people may  reciprocally be dissolved AT WILL and not by any law's behest.

Although it is the business of the State to preserve social order by protecting the stability of the family as a basic social institution, the State has no right, and is not a party of interest, to the matters of the heart.

Humans, married or not, should NOT be obligated to love each other. Everyone should be free to decide for themselves on what goes on with their relationships because love is always a matter of the will. It is a choice and not an obligation that can be imposed by law.