Deconstructing the Marriage Debate
The marriage debate that currently dominates our society is one referring to homosexual marriage. This debate, while it may seem to be unique, is taking place all over the world and is certainly nothing new. The debate is almost entirely about the terminology of defining marriage. Religious groups consider marriage as a contract between a man and a woman, whereas other groups consider a broader definition. The only certainty in the debate is that it will likely continue for a great length of time.
One fact that is constantly presented by the conservative side is that marriage is on the decline and more people are getting divorces. They claim that this is a direct result of global moral decay. While one in two couples in the United States get a divorce, the rate is different in the rest of the world. Stats from Germany, for example, have the divorce rate sitting at about two or three hundred couples out of every thousand. Canada’s divorce stats are slightly higher than that, while Italy’s statistics tend to be the lowest in the European Union at around fifty couples out of every thousand.
The divorce arguments factor in to what conservatives in North America consider to be moral decay. The conservatives use this argument to explain why homosexual marriage and abortion are “on the rise”. The United States conservatives have elected to blame those two social issues for the perceived social decline in marriage values without actually looking for causes. Relationships between parents and children are, for example, often centralized because of parents splitting up or because of a lack of role models from both genders. Conservatives often use statistics in terms of child relationships when it comes to homosexual marriage.
The reality that lies somewhere behind all of the assumptions in regards to marriage sex or gender issues is quite different than what the conservatives are using as ammunition for their debates. Instead, the existence of two role models is of certain importance. The marriage sex or gender of those role models, however, is not as important. There are no studies to prove that children of same sex parents or experience any deficiency in their life.
While conservatives attempt to push the marriage debate and their view on various social issues, it is actually a social-economic climate issue that is largely to blame for the breakdown of the American family. As both parents in a home need to work to support children, the time that the child has with those parents is significantly diminished. The time that the couple has for one another is equally diminished. This leads to various workplace affairs and other social issues that are in direct response to marriage breakdowns. Marriage licenses are still actively being rejected to otherwise loving people that just happen to be the same gender, while in other places marriage licenses are granted to those that will work fifty hours a week and will barely form a family unit.
In light of the plethora of misinformation that is given in mindless arguments, it is important to realize that there are standards to uphold. These standards are not entirely based on political leanings or religious viewpoints. They are, in fact, set forth based on facts and compassionate, tolerant behavior. No marriage debate should take the reigns of our responsibility as a society to uphold its values.
