From
David Blankenhorn's new book The Future of Marriage is a thorough, factual argument for traditional marriage. Blankenhorn concludes, based on evidence and studies, that "gay marriage goes along with the erosion, not the shoring up, of the institution of marriage." Tinkering with the marriage laws doesn't strengthen marriage, it weakens it, and ultimately harms children who marriage is primarily meant to nurture because marriage as an institution is weakened.
In this short presentation of his argument, Blankenhorn uses studies from a number of countries to show the correlation between the changes of marriage and family law and the devaluing of marriage itself.
Certain trends in values and attitudes tend to cluster with each other and with certain trends in behavior. A rise in unwed childbearing goes hand in hand with a weakening of the belief that people who want to have children should get married. High divorce rates are encountered where the belief in marital permanence is low. More one-parent homes are found where the belief that children need both a father and a mother is weaker. A rise in nonmarital cohabitation is linked at least partly to the belief that marriage as an institution is outmoded. The legal endorsement of gay marriage occurs where the belief prevails that marriage itself should be redefined as a private personal relationship. And all of these marriage-weakening attitudes and behaviors are linked. Around the world, the surveys show, these things go together.
He points out that marriage is the most pro-child institution, the best way for children to be raised. Yes, children can be raised well in other situations and sometimes have to be. But as we plan as a society shouldn't our desire be to offer children the best environment when possible? The best is what government should support and encourage.
Though many same-sex advocates openly admit that the goal is the devolution of marriage itself, even those with the best of motives in advocating change should be able to face the facts that their efforts do not contribute to the strength of marriage itself.
[T]he deep logic of same-sex marriage is clearly consistent with what scholars call deinstitutionalization--the overturning or weakening of all of the customary forms of marriage, and the dramatic shrinking of marriage's public meaning and institutional authority.
Blankenhorn appeared on Dennis Prager's show.
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