The ideal of universal marriage is so seductive that the governors can't wait to roll up their sleeves and get their states' most intractable social problems married off. By putting young lovers through a really tough questionnaire and making them keep their hands to themselves. The prime beneficiary of these nuptial crusades is Mike McManus, former syndicated newspaper columnist and founder-director of Marriage Savers, a campaign to eliminate divorce through premarital chastity. The preparation can take whatever form the church or temple chooses, but the formula proposed by McManus assigns couples to marriage mentors who help them evaluate their relationships. They administer premarital questionnaires in order to spark discussions about conflicts that a promised couple is likely to face.
Sex is definitely on the agenda.
If the male in question is unwilling to call his mentor, his fianc e is directed to call her female mentor for help in preserving herself for the honeymoon. According to McManus, Marriage Savers is not a scientifically based campaign, but it works. A check with the Kansas authorities significantly changes this perception. Not surprisingly, this figure is missing from McManus' Web site and he claimed to be shocked and disappointed by the fact when asked about it. What young adults need to know, according to Popenoe and Whitehead, is that cohabitation puts couples at increased risk for divorce if they marry.