theology of the body for aliens

...or, well, humans self-exiled to the moon Anarres in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed (1974).

Is marriage really necessary? Is monogamy overrated? Le Guin, outspoken atheist, gives in a single scene of dialogue a better defense of marriage, of a bond "of body and mind and all the years of life" than I've read in much contemporary Catholic (or other Christian) fiction.

I found the entire scene quoted; it's a couple pages, but it's worth it:

http://mbravo.livejournal.com/341191.html

Why is this notable, even if it's a good read? Now more than ever, popular culture trivializes marriage. But confidence in such a union may be expressed even by a writer with no religious loyalties, because the concept seems most beautiful, most true to her, most within the natural law, instinctively to be celebrated.

This bit, and actually the whole book, is light on the scifi and heavy on the characters and social commentary, so even if you're not a genre fan, I'd recommend it.