Do Mormons "court" or can they date casually?
by 
Leah Morgan
ANSWERS: 6
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In general among mormons, teens start dating at about the age of 16. At this age, they are too young to really be considering marriage. So, they should not be looking for a mate when they are dating. So, initially when dating, they should be looking more to learn just what it is that they want in a future mate as opposed to actually looking for a mate.
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We are councilled, when we do date, to do so with an intent to get married at some future time. If we are not mature enough to consider that future possibility, then we are not ready to date. Even at sixteen, while you may not marry your first boyfriend or girlfriend, you should have marriage in your thoughts and in your prayers, and you should live worthily, continually, to have a temple marriage. So Mormons can date casually, but dating without intent for marriage is not of god, it's carnal. Inevitably if you date, without the intent to marry, you can be pulled into a direction you shouldn't go. The church doesn't only say that you should wait until you are sixteen, but they ask for you to date responsibly. If you are not intending to get married, how much easier might it be to break the law of Chastity? So remember what I said.
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Dating casually is highly encouraged. Considering "courting" to be defined as "trying to win someone's favor, in the context of dating, for the purpose of marrying that person", there is, in fact, a problem when people only date to court. Likewise there is a problem when people never date to court. General dating should be casual. My old rule of thumb was that I was trying to get to know the person that I took out and that this might lead to my becoming interested in courting the person.
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They can date casually, 'court' sugests something a little more formal/serious/old fashioned custom. Both are fine but to 'court' sugests that your intention is to marry the person you are courting. We normally call this 'engagement' today.
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They usually marry casually...over and over and over again
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There are some pretty good comments about this topic at "Dear Bro Jo". http://www.dearbrojo.blogspot.com
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