Zogby International and AOL surveyed more than 7,000 Americans in that age bracket and found 44 percent who said marriage is not necessary in order to have a committed, fulfilling, life-long relationship. Mike McManus, president of Marriage Savers -- a group that works to help churches reduce divorce rates, finds that number shocking.
"People who are married live longer, they're healthier, they're happier; they're wealthier," he points out. "A man who's single, for whatever reason, will live ten years less than a married man; a woman, about four years less."
Most of the survey respondents also said that they would prefer living together before getting married. "Unfortunately, the marriage message just doesn't seem to be getting out to the public," continues McManus. "And what we have is a reflection of Hollywood morals ... in the culture."
Oh, that awful L.A. suburb is at it again, and God's Marriage is once again the victim. Not content to simply make overly dramatic statements portending the demise of our cultural heritage at the hands of the Jews, OneNewsNow also goes on to horribly distort facts and figures from a peer-reviewed study:
But research by Rutgers University's National Marriage Project indicates that couples who live together before marriage are 46 percent more likely to divorce and significantly more likely to experience domestic violence within their relationships.
Wow, that would be a blockbuster ... if only it were true. here's what the 2002 study ACTUALLY says:
Children living with cohabiting couples tend to be disadvantaged compared to those living with married couples. Prominent reasons are that cohabiting couples have a much higher breakup rate than married couples, a lower level of household income, and a much higher level of child abuse and domestic violence.
This says NOTHING about couples who cohabit, then marry, then divorce ... it just says that couples who cohabit are more likely to sever their relationships than those who marry. Shocking. Oh, and you can search marriage.rutgers.edu all you want ... the term "46 percent" appears four times, and only to refer to survey results about attitudes toward marriage. So, I'll have to assume that, like almost every other citation on their "news" site, OneNewsNow just made that shit up.
Of course, I began by saying that I was amused by the comments attached to the "article." First, let's review those made by The Usual Suspects:
This is so sad for America.
The reason that married couples live longer and are married is becuase they are committed to each other; and they made this commitment verbally and visibly before friends, family, and God. Yes, this is unpopular to say, but marriage is to be for one mate, for life; with only a single exception (adultry). Adultry is grounds for divorce, but once divorced; remarriage is not an option.
Check it out in our instruction book - it is all there.
Posted by Ed C
I think if you look closely, Ed says that the reason married couples are married is that they are married. Also, I thought that "Adultry" was the name of that bald dude who lost on American Idol and now he makes millions doing a bad impression of the shitty band "Creed"?
The sin of fornication carries its own consequences, one of which is an undermining of the relationship it falsely unites. This is why marriage is meant to be with one mate, man-to-woman for time and eternity.
Posted by Clinton Jones
Clinton, every time I fornicate, I try to send a message loud and clear: I am undermining any relationship we could possibly have, now get your ass out of here and pay for your own taxi.
Wow, it is a shame how we have come to a day where we are willing to so boldly tell our God & creater that His way does not work, and that we know better than He! Of course, if one finds themself in a physically abusive relationship they need to move out. However, in God's Word we find strong words as to the issue of sexual imorality which includes adultery. Thank God He did however give us His Son, and we can find forgivness for our sins upon repentance.
Posted by Rusty
First of all, I want to thank Rusty for giving permission to those who have been physically abused to leave their relationships. If only those who suffer from emotional and mental anguish at the hands of their spouses could benefit similarly from Rusty's largesse ... what a beautiful world it would be. I do want to point out to Rusty that even though Jesus did get it on with that whore Mary Magdalene, it probably wasn't that great. Can you imagine anyone getting on their knees and talking dirty to the Son of God? "Fuck me like a sodomite, that's right you filthy Jew - fuck me harder in my Holiest of Holies"? I didn't think so (never mind the implications of "who's your daddy"). So perhaps we might "know" better than "He" does on this matter after all.
I have a saying "Why buy the cow if the milk is free" Ladies save your trump card to after the Wedding Who knows you just might not end up a single parent family.
Posted by Ted M
Ted - Did you make that up yourself? You should post that to your MySpace page. I think that the guy from Georgia Satellites might have a beef with you over who came up with it first, though:
Okay, enough of the fundies. Here are some honest-to-goodness dissenting views, as allowed by the mod:
44%? That's a pretty big group. All goes to show, things change, people change, opinions change. Is it the end of the world? I don't think so.
Posted by Denis
Not a complete story here or at least not out here in the real world. What about those of us that did divorce an adulterer? We raised children alone, scratched pennies to keep them fed and still have utilities so truthfully marriage was nothing but accepting evilness until you finally stopped it. I was raised to believe in those fairy tales and tried to pass them on to my own children as well - but in the real world no one will ever put me in that position again by signing my life away.
Posted by Sandy
The studies that show the difference in expected lifespan do not use the term married, what was studied was people in long term relationships as compared to those that are not in long term relationships.
Posted by Russell
Why is this an issue? If you want to get married - do so. If your neighbor doesn't - leave him alone. Keep your dark-age zealot-ism to yourself.
Posted by Really?
Whoa! If they're gonna allow stuff like THAT to get posted, I may have to shut down my blog for good. They even allowed a few posts featuring Satan's wicked humor:
Indoor cats live longer that outdoor cats too. However, a lot of them sit in the window and meow to go outside.
Posted by bryan
10 extra years of being told what to do. Only the good die young.
Posted by Manny
It's a wild world.
