Traditional Marriage

Con You have moved the debate from my intended purpose, but all the more interesting. 1. I view the increase of unwanted pregnancies and children born out of wedlock as linked. If you don't, that is okay for the sake of the debate. I view it as link to only say that these children often times are born into situations that are far from ideal. In addition, the divorce rate is at 50% and trending past 50% as we speak. (http://www.divorcestatistics.info...) In spite of the fact that more and more people are choosing not to live in a traditional marriage relationship. Which I consider unfortunate. This is not a fundamental flaw in the institution marriage, but rather a demoralization of society and its respect for the institution itself. I will focus on children born out of wedlock for the sake of my initial argument. Children born out of wedlock are more likely than children born to married parents to have their first child out of wedlock. Children born out of wedlock are more likely than children born to married parents to live in poverty. Children born out of wedlock also have lower birth weights, higher mortality rates, grow up with fewer social resources, and have a higher propensity to be involved in criminal activity. http://www.medicaldaily.com... http://phys.org... 2. Con characterizes my aspirations toward traditional marriage to be based on assumptions or flawed perspective. Well, you took on a debate with in the topic of religion so your perspective will be limited in this debate. The bible teaches that sex outside a marriage relationship is adultery/fornication with inherent consequences. (Hebrews 13:4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.) Although less and less aspire to these biblical ideals in American culture today, these terms have biblical roots in our Judeo-Christian founding as a nation of laws. Unapologetically, I believe these biblical principals, defining marriage, are spiritually and socially superior to the fornication practiced today. The shift away from the biblical pattern and purpose of marriage is a cancer that is eating away at our culture from the inside out. I could argue that sexual crime against women and children, juvenile delinquency, and crime in general are closely tied to this issue. Of course, as a Christian, I believe in the words of the New Testament are God's words of instruction to live wholesome lives, but my challenge today is more a challenge of considering the ideas expressed rather than the source. 3. In closing, Con believes I am dehumanizing those who do not support my belief or point of view. To the contrary, my hope is that society would look at the evidence and determine for themselves which path they believe would best support the overall well being of themselves, their family, and society in general and not the unfettered whims of an untested anything is permissible lifestyle. My argument is not focused on premarital sex (hence the title Traditional Marriage vs Premarital Sex and the Like), but against anything that would threaten to remove this institution. I believe the evidence supports that traditional marriage provides the best framework for children to thrive physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, and spiritually and for families to prosper in these areas as well. Of course, people are not perfect, so to say a failed marriage equals a failed institution is absurd. Rather, what will be teach our children to aspire to? Cohabitation? Homosexuality? Promiscuity? Con, as many opponents of marriage, spend most of their time trying to knock holes in an opposing argument rather than defending their point of view or lack thereof. What is Con's point of view? What is Con's viable alternative to traditional marriage. In fact, if he had evidence that there was a better alternative, we should have already heard it. Yet, I imagine there is no alternative framework. There will be no evidence to support an alternative even if he was creative enough to make one up. There is, however, enough present data to support the advantages of traditional marriage and regrettably, I believe there will be much more in the future. Time will judge this debate...stay tuned.