There are certain things that happen in this world that make mewonder whether we’re going the right direction or not. How low canwe allow ourselves to stoop just to ensure publicity forourselves?

Just this past year, our TV screens, newspapers and magazineswere flooded with the much-vaunted kiss between Madonna and BritneySpears. This was definitely a premeditated stunt to stir hypeamongst people in preparation for a new video Britney Spearsreleased shortly after the award ceremony.

Whether they’re willing to admit it or not, celebrities arealways hungry for attention and they’ve proven time and again thatthey’ll stop at nothing to ascertain that they get it.

In the first weekend of 2004, Britney pulled another stunt bymarrying a childhood friend of hers. Later, she decided she wantedthe marriage annulled. She claimed this marriage thing was afriendly joke that got carried too far and that she knew not whatshe was doing.

“There are grounds for this court to grant an annulment becauseplaintiff Spears lacked understanding of her actions to the extentthat she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage,” the annulmentpapers said.

How is it possible that someone can lose touch with herself andyet agree to be married to another person? It’s that they knewexactly what they were doing or that some substance influencedtheir decision.

According to reports, the pair went to the Little White WeddingChapel-which had wed numerous celebrities such as Bruce Willis andDemi Moore-after spending time at a club in the Palms Casino Hotel.When notified by chapel staff that they couldn’t get marriedwithout a license, they went ahead and got one and then returned tothe chapel for the ceremony.

Tell me that sounds like someone who lost touch withherself.

In an interview with CBS News, Alexander had this to say abouttheir marriage.

“It was just crazy, man,” the 22-year-old Southwest LouisianaUniversity student told “Access Hollywood” in an interview at hishome Monday morning. “And we were just looking at each other andsaid, ‘Let’s do something wild, crazy. Let’s go get married, justfor the hell of it.'”

There are so many gay people out there who would give anythingto be afforded the opportunity and the liberty to marry theirpartners, but the country is so engrossed on protecting the”sanctity of marriage.” How is that sanctity protected andmaintained when the laws of this country allow people like BritneySpears to marry and dissolve that marriage in less than 48 hours?How is the sanctity of this institution protected when people likeDennis Rodman and Carmen Elektra can marry and divorce in ninedays?

This is not the first time celebrities have done this. NicolasCage and Lisa Marie Presley have done it and Drew Barrymore andJeremy Thomas have done it as well.

If this country is so concerned about maintaining the sanctityof this institution, wouldn’t the decision-makers come up with morestringent ways of protecting it than allowing celebrities-and otherpeople like them-to mock the institution of marriage by marrying”for the hell of it?”

There are people out there committed to one another who arestill refused legal rights to have their unions recognized andacknowledged by their country, yet such privileges are given topeople like those mentioned above.

Where is equality in that?