family
Return to Common Sense
June 22, 2010
Section:
Domestic – Family
“Traditional marriage
as the central building block prevents behavioral problems in boys and
psychological problems in girls, but single-parent families are concentrated
among blacks and the less educated while hardly occurring at all among women
with a college degree.”
“My criticism is that [the gay movement]
isn’t just asking for civil rights; it’s asking for recognition and
acceptance of an alternative lifestyle which I do not believe society can
condone, nor can I.” Ronald Reagan
Philosophy
(Background, Issues, Objectives):
Marriage is the cornerstone of the
family, the ideal union of one man and one woman and the ideal environment for
childbearing and childrearing.
- Marriage is deeply rooted in all societies.
o While
the ceremony for religious and secular marriages differs, the meaning has
always been similar.
o Marriage
protects and promotes the wellbeing of children.
- Civil Rights Act of 1963 has undermined the black family.
o By
2005 out of wedlock birth rates among blacks increased from 23.6% to nearly
70%.
§
By 2005 out of wedlock birth rates among whites
increased from 3.1% to 25.3%.
o Family
breakdown then compounded the problem by condemning children to poverty.
- Partners who cohabit with intention of marrying share many
characteristics of married people.
o Partners
who cohabit without the intention of marrying often have short relationships
with few benefits.
o Men
and women who cohabit are more likely to experience partner abuse and
infidelity.
o Parenting
role of cohabiting partner is vaguely defined, making unstable living
arrangement for children.
o 50%
of children born to cohabiting parents saw their parents
part by age 5, compared with only 15% of children born to married parents.
- In marriages partners often specialize their skills, enabling
accomplishing more as a team.
o Research
shows mothers and fathers spend equal time on work endeavors, including paid
and unpaid.
44 states have laws that preserve the
traditional definition of marriage.
- 31 states have amended their constitutions to protect the
definition of marriage.
o The
first state amendments on marriage, in Hawaii and Alaska, were approved in 1998
as a response to court decisions that threatened a judicial redefinition of
marriage.
o Constitution
amendments make absolutely clear that the enacting state will not recognize a
same-sex marriage from another state.
- Homosexuals have claimed a “right” not supported by our
Constitution.
o Opposition
is demonized as “discrimination” and “hate.”
o Gay
activists do not construe their "rights" in terms of liberty, but in
terms of radical and absolute equality.
o Gays
insist that same-sex relationships are identical to, entirely analogous to and
fungible with, traditional marriage.
o Children
of homosexual couples are seven times more likely to develop
"non-heterosexual preferences" than other children.
- Life expectancy of gay men is 20 years less than heterosexual men.
Family is the basic building block of
society.
- Rome’s great orator and statesman, Cicero, declared marriage
was the “first bond of society”
o Marriage
has been both the cornerstone and keystone of civilized societies, while sexual
promiscuity has been a corrosive, destructive force weakening a civilization.
o “Cultures
that were more sexually permissive displayed less cultural energy, creativity,
intellectual development and individualism, and a slower general cultural
ascent.”
- Married families have higher incomes.
o In
2000 government spent more than $150 billion subsidizing single parent
families.
o While
marriage may not be a cure for poverty, it does turn out to be a fairly
reliable preventative.
- Married people are more than twice as likely to be happy as
divorced or never married individuals.
o 71%
of Americans say growth in births of unwed mothers is a “big
problem.”
o 69%
of Americans think a child needs a home with both a father and a mother.
o 66%
of Americans say a single woman with children is a trend that is bad for
society.
o The
above three findings are the same regardless of age, race, and education.
- American birth rate is 2.11 births per woman, right at the
replacement level;
- Children in intact families are less likely to be depressed,
difficulty in school, behavior problems.
o Children
from homes with fathers are nine times more likely to graduate.
o 71%
of dropouts come from fatherless homes.
o 92%
of children whose families make more than $75k live with two parents.
o Only
20% of children whose families make less than $15k live with two parents.
- In 2007 40% of all American children are born outside marriage.
o Only
7% of children of mothers with college degrees are born out of wedlock.
o The
out-of-wedlock birth rate among women who drop out of high school is 15%.
o The
out-of-wedlock birth rate among African-American women is 67%.
o Boys
who are raised by single mothers are twice as likely to end up in prison by age
32.
o Girls
who are born outside of marriage are three times as likely to have a teenage
pregnancy.
o Teens
born outside of marriage are about twice as likely to drop out of high school.
- Aid to Families with Dependent Children required father leave to
qualify to receive taxpayer benefits.
Child marriage is defined as marriage carried out
below the age of 18.
- Arranged marriages can be made for toddlers and babies.
- In the developing world child marriage can occur shortly after
puberty.
- Girls living in poor households are approximately twice as likely
to marry before 18.
US divorce rate more than doubled between
1960 and 2000.
- In 2006 48% of all first marriages end in divorce.
o Wives
precipitate two-thirds to three quarters of all divorces and separations.
o Divorce
rate dropped to 16.5% (first married 1990-1994) among college graduates.
o Divorce
rate has risen to 38% (first married 1990-1994) among high school graduates.
o Divorce
rate has risen to 50% among high school dropouts.
o Many
mothers avoid divorce by never marrying in the first place.
o Unwed
childbearing rates (7%) and divorce rates (10%) for female college graduates
are low.
- Female raises 80% of all household arguments.
- Collapse of marriage is the principal cause of child poverty in the
US.
- Widespread divorce poisons the larger culture of marriage
(distrust, insecurity, low commitment).
There has been a backlash in Europe
promoting traditional family definition and values.
- Strong pro-family governments have been elected in Latvia,
Slovakia, and Poland.
- World Congress of Families has been convened in 1997, 1999, 2004,
and 2006.
- The natural family has been promoted as the “Springtime of Europe and the World.”
- In 2004 Sweden found that male homosexual couples were 50% more
likely, and female couples 167% more likely, to terminate their legal
relationships than were heterosexual couples to divorce.
A Canadian study acknowledged that gays and lesbians are at
higher risk for a number of deadly diseases and disorders that reduce the life
spans of gay and bisexual men by 20 years compared to the average man in Canada:
- Gays and lesbians commit
suicide at a rate from twice to 13.9 times more often than the general
population.
- Homosexual smoking rates
are 1.3 to 3 times higher than the general population.
- Alcoholism rates among
homosexuals are 1.4 to 7 times higher than the general population.
- Illegal drug use is 1.6
to 19 times higher among homosexuals than the general population.
- Rates of depression are
1.8 to 3 times higher among homosexuals than the general population.
Experiments with same-sex marriage in
other countries have had disastrous results.
- Netherlands legalized same sex marriage for 5 years and key factor
in decline of Dutch marriage.
- Scandinavia has recently legalized same sex partnerships in
Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
o Scandinavians
view parenthood as test to see if out to get married.
- Sweden has begun move to abolish marriage and replace with gender
neutral partnerships that would recognize multiple partner unions.
Principles:
The institution of marriage itself was
not created, and thus can not be redefined, by government.
- Same-sex marriage has a goal to set aside marriage altogether as a
repressive and patriarchichal anachronism.
- Since American people have rejected same-sex marriage, the strategy
has switched to extending the Equal Rights Amendment to include marriage
“rights”
Marriage is a specific form of
kinship with specific obligations:
·
Marriage is concerned above all with female
sexuality, protecting the child bearing partner from rape, degradation, and concubinage.
·
Marriage impose a set of rules that determines not
only whom one may marry, but, more important, whom one may not marry.
·
Marriage changes the nature of sexual relations
between a man and a woman.
·
Marriage defines the end of childhood, sets a
boundary between generations within the same family and between families, and
establishes the rules in any given society for crossing those boundaries.
Recommendations:
Defend and strengthen marriage and the
family in federal and state law and policies.
- Re-write the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage as the
union of one man and one woman.
- Ease economic and other burdens on families (remove entitlement
program disincentives).
- Encourage healthy marriages through welfare reform and other social
service programs.
Embrace the ‘Culture of
Belonging” encouraging the combination of “work, wedlock, and
worship.”
- Defer to parental rights regarding the education and welfare of
minor children.
- Abolish anonymous sperm donation for biological and paternity
reasons.
Compile a Family Issues Scorecard to
grade Congress on pro-family issues.
References:
“Save
the Males” by Kathleen Parker published by Random House Publishing,
2008.
“Research
looks at cohabitation’s negative effects” by William Harms
dated March 2, 2000 published by University of Chicago Chronicle at http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/000302/cohabit.shtml .
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Marrying Kind: Which Men Marry and Why” by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead
and David Popenoe dated 2004 published by National
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“Poverty
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“Homosexuality
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“Another
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or Cohabit?” dated February 1, 2007
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February 7, 2007 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2007/02/07/the_homosexual_assault_on_traditional_marriage .
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child bride: Assaulting the innocent” by Janice Shaw Crouse dated
March 7, 2007 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JaniceShawCrouse/2007/03/07/the_child_bride_assaulting_the_innocent .
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winter’” by Rebecca Hagelin dated March
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published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MaggieGallagher/2007/03/21/the_future_of_marriage .
“The
World Congress of Families” by Allan C. Carlson dated March 22, 2007
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“A
Father’s Presence – A Far Greater Predictor of Graduation Than Race
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by Kay S. Hymowitz dated January 30, 2007 published
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published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DougGiles/2007/04/14/the_10_commandments_for_husbands .
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Incredible Shrinking Father” by Kay S. Hymowitz
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Lesson for the Left about Medicine, Money, and Motherhood” by Laura
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“’Gays’
Don’t Want ‘Marriage’ After All” by Matt Barber
dated July 8, 2007 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MattBarber/2007/07/08/%e2%80%9cgays%e2%80%9d_don%e2%80%99t_want_%e2%80%9cmarriage%e2%80%9d_after_all .
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Today, Gone Tomorrow” by Janice Shaw Crouse dated September 27, 2007
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and Marriage… Discrimination” by James M. Thunder dated October
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Firm a Foundation?” by Ken Connor dated November 4, 2007 published by
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Family Issues Scorecard – A Useful Innovation” by Paul Weyrich dated February 12, 2008 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/02/12/a_family_issues_scorecard_-_a_useful_innovation .
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Incontrovertible Facts About Fathers” by Janice Shaw Crouse dated
February 27, 2008 published by Town Hall at http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JaniceShawCrouse/2008/02/27/the_incontrovertible_facts_about_fathers .
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Moves Voters” by William C. Duncan dated November 7, 2008 published
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Poverty by Revitalizing Marriage in Low-Income Communities” by Robert
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kids more likely to be what?” by Bob Unruh dated June 8, 2009
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Voters Reject Same-Sex Marriage Law” by Glenn Adams and David Crary dated November 4, 2009 published by Cybercast News
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Failed Case for…” by Jack Kerwick
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.
“Five
Myths about Same Sex Marriage” by Janice Shaw Crouse dated March 9,
2010 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/JaniceShawCrouse/2010/03/09/five_myths_about_same_sex_marriage
.
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Celebrates ‘Gay Pride’ as HIV Cases Rise” by Cliff
Kincaid dated June 21, 2010 published by Accuracy in Media at http://www.aim.org/aim-column/obama-celebrates-gay-pride-as-hiv-cases-rise/
.
