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A majority of Christian thinkers, however, see plenty of problems that would be created by trial marriagesand they are not about to approve them. Hamilton, for example, admits that "kids today are really committing themselves. Trial marriage just sounds too cool." Dean John Coburn of Massachusetts' Episcopal Theological School asks: "How can two people trust one another on a temporary basis? Marriage is a total commitment, and trial marriage is a contradiction in terms." Some other critics suggest that in trial liaisons that fail, the psychological damage done might be almost as anguishing as that caused in a divorce. Even theologians who concede the inadequacy of church tradition on sex warn that take-it-or-leave-it unions do violence to the basic concept of sexual mating, which is symbolic of what should be a deep-rooted personal encounter.
