Marriage is not obsolete in U.S.
A new survey out last week shows that 40 percent of adult Americans feel marriage is obsolete.
I suppose those same people would think that the foundation to their house is also obsolete. After all, why would you need to worry about what’s underfoot as long as there is a roof overhead? Aren’t there a lot of people in developing nations who get by just fine with thatched-roof huts and dirt floors?
Marriage is the foundation of family and family is the foundation of civilization. We are not animals who mate at random and then move on. It may seem like we’re headed that way if the Pew Research Center survey is anywhere near accurate.
The survey showed that those who had less education and lower incomes were more likely to feel marriage was unnecessary. The shocker was that people who claimed to be conservative had a lower opinion of marriage than their liberal counterparts.
Conservatives are the ones who brought us the whole “family values” thing.
With half the marriages in this country ending in divorce, I guess it makes sense that almost half the people would feel marriage is obsolete. Another part of the survey is equally alarming. It showed that the vast majority – 63 to 88 percent – define families as single parent and child, unmarried couples living together with children, gay or lesbian couples raising a child, and a childless married couple. The survey says 88 percent of respondents believe an unmarried couple living together without children is not a family.
In my book, a family is a married husband and wife with or without children. Single parents with children are a family, albeit a broken one. People with children who cohabitate may not be formally married, but are united in a common law marriage. The government and the courts look upon them as a married family.
Don’t even get me started on gay and lesbian couples. That in no way can or should be a marriage. (Please note that this is my personal opinion and not necessarily that of my employer.)
Getting back to the importance of marriage, it is my belief that marriage is essential to human civilization. Marriage is a vow – an unbreakable commitment and bond – to spend the rest of your life to the one you have selected as your mate. Unfortunately, we live in a society that feels “so long as you both shall live” means “so long as I feel like it.”
America today is perhaps the single-most selfish society the world has ever known. Though selfishness is a natural part of human nature, I think you can pinpoint what ails this country to the post-war baby boom generation. The so-called “me generation” certainly did not uphold the values instilled in it by their parents.
The generation that experimented with drugs and alcohol, burned draft cards, supported women’s liberation, legalized abortion, took prayer out of schools, and took the shame out of divorce and out-of-wedlock parenthood is the same one dumping its liberal philosophies into the minds of their children and grandchildren.
The baby boomers don’t hold the entire blame. The so-called “greatest generation” is the one that dropped the ball as parents and allowed – even encouraged – their experimental behavior. Rather than reining in their children, they simply dropped the reins and let them discover life for themselves.
What we now must contend with as a result of these actions (and inactions) is a society that is devaluing marriage, families, family identity, commitment, work ethic, faith, trust, integrity, honesty, education, responsibility, etc. It seems of late that every social “advancement” means lowering the bar, not raising the standard.
All that being said, I’m not here to bash either generation. I simply assign the responsibility of our current condition to them. Both generations have accomplished great things – and continue to do so. It’s their failures that are the cause of so much consternation.
There once was a time when we would not have thought to even question such things as family, marriage and faith. Now we can’t even accurately define them because they have become so convoluted.
The moral decay that I see in America is nasty and rampant. Sometimes I think we’d all be better off living in isolated tribes with thatched-roof huts and dirt floors. At least that way you’d know where you stand.
I suppose those same people would think that the foundation to their house is also obsolete. After all, why would you need to worry about what’s underfoot as long as there is a roof overhead? Aren’t there a lot of people in developing nations who get by just fine with thatched-roof huts and dirt floors?
Marriage is the foundation of family and family is the foundation of civilization. We are not animals who mate at random and then move on. It may seem like we’re headed that way if the Pew Research Center survey is anywhere near accurate.
The survey showed that those who had less education and lower incomes were more likely to feel marriage was unnecessary. The shocker was that people who claimed to be conservative had a lower opinion of marriage than their liberal counterparts.
Conservatives are the ones who brought us the whole “family values” thing.
With half the marriages in this country ending in divorce, I guess it makes sense that almost half the people would feel marriage is obsolete. Another part of the survey is equally alarming. It showed that the vast majority – 63 to 88 percent – define families as single parent and child, unmarried couples living together with children, gay or lesbian couples raising a child, and a childless married couple. The survey says 88 percent of respondents believe an unmarried couple living together without children is not a family.
In my book, a family is a married husband and wife with or without children. Single parents with children are a family, albeit a broken one. People with children who cohabitate may not be formally married, but are united in a common law marriage. The government and the courts look upon them as a married family.
Don’t even get me started on gay and lesbian couples. That in no way can or should be a marriage. (Please note that this is my personal opinion and not necessarily that of my employer.)
Getting back to the importance of marriage, it is my belief that marriage is essential to human civilization. Marriage is a vow – an unbreakable commitment and bond – to spend the rest of your life to the one you have selected as your mate. Unfortunately, we live in a society that feels “so long as you both shall live” means “so long as I feel like it.”
America today is perhaps the single-most selfish society the world has ever known. Though selfishness is a natural part of human nature, I think you can pinpoint what ails this country to the post-war baby boom generation. The so-called “me generation” certainly did not uphold the values instilled in it by their parents.
The generation that experimented with drugs and alcohol, burned draft cards, supported women’s liberation, legalized abortion, took prayer out of schools, and took the shame out of divorce and out-of-wedlock parenthood is the same one dumping its liberal philosophies into the minds of their children and grandchildren.
The baby boomers don’t hold the entire blame. The so-called “greatest generation” is the one that dropped the ball as parents and allowed – even encouraged – their experimental behavior. Rather than reining in their children, they simply dropped the reins and let them discover life for themselves.
What we now must contend with as a result of these actions (and inactions) is a society that is devaluing marriage, families, family identity, commitment, work ethic, faith, trust, integrity, honesty, education, responsibility, etc. It seems of late that every social “advancement” means lowering the bar, not raising the standard.
All that being said, I’m not here to bash either generation. I simply assign the responsibility of our current condition to them. Both generations have accomplished great things – and continue to do so. It’s their failures that are the cause of so much consternation.
There once was a time when we would not have thought to even question such things as family, marriage and faith. Now we can’t even accurately define them because they have become so convoluted.
The moral decay that I see in America is nasty and rampant. Sometimes I think we’d all be better off living in isolated tribes with thatched-roof huts and dirt floors. At least that way you’d know where you stand.
posted by Joe Southern | 9:13 AM
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