Let\u2019s have a look, shall we?<\/p>\n
Foremost among those institutions is the\u00a0American family.\u00a0It is the foundation of\u00a0civil society,\u00a0and the cornerstone of the family is natural marriage,\u00a0the union of\u00a0one man\u00a0and one woman.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Holdup. Why is the cornerstone of the family \u201cnatural marriage\u201d? Historically, the family has looked very different from culture to culture and time to time, and even today people disagree on how to define the term \u201cfamily.\u201d It simply can\u2019t be taken for granted or asserted as though t\u2019s self-evident that \u201cnatural marriage\u201d is \u201cthe cornerstone of the family.\u201d Check out this bit from an old article\u00a0about the 1980 White House Conference on the Family<\/a>, which conservatives made great efforts\u00a0to fill with their supporters:<\/p>\n
Besides polarity on issues, there is a big difference even in the groups\u2019 definitions of the family.<\/em><\/p>\n
The pro-family groups want government approval for their definition of a family as persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption.\u00a0The more moderate groups recognize a broader definition of families as anybody in a loving and caring relationship, sometimes including unmarried and homosexual couples.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It\u2019s odd, isn\u2019t it, that those who focus on blood are described as \u201cpro-family\u201d while those who focus on love are not? I see this framing a lot, and the Republican Party platform is rife with it. Well you know what?\u00a0I\u2019m a progressive and I\u2019m pro-family<\/em>. That I disagree very strongly with conservatives on how family is defined does not mean I\u00a0don\u2019t support\u00a0or believe in families (in their many forms). I do<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Now back to the platform\u2019s discussion of the family:<\/p>\n
Its daily\u00a0lessons \u2014 cooperation, patience, mutual respect,\u00a0responsibility, self-reliance \u2014 are fundamental to\u00a0the order and progress of our Republic. Strong\u00a0families, depending upon God and one another,\u00a0advance the cause of liberty by lessening the need\u00a0for government in their daily lives. Conversely, as\u00a0we have learned over the last five decades, the loss\u00a0of faith and family life leads to greater dependence\u00a0upon government. That is why Republicans\u00a0formulate public policy, from taxation to education,\u00a0from healthcare to welfare, with attention to the\u00a0needs and strengths of the family.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u2019m honestly not sure why faith is relevant here\u2014I thought we were talking about the family\u2014but I would point out that African Americans, who have by far the highest number<\/a> of out of wedlock births as a percentage, are also significantly more religious<\/a> than other groups. But again, I really thought this section was about the family, and bringing faith into it adds a variable.<\/p>\n
The platform claims that \u201cstrong families . . . advance the cause of liberty by lessening the need for government in their daily lives.\u201d So let me give you a scenario. A man loses his factory job and struggles to find work; he has a high school diploma and no skills or work experience beyond those gained during his time at the factory. The woman he is married to dropped out of high school when she got pregnant with their first child, and has stayed home with their children ever since; her employment prospects are limited. The family struggles, going on unemployment and then food stamps. Their extended family lives nearby and their family bonds are strong, but everyone is struggling and no one has much\u00a0to spare. Hmm. It looks like \u201cstrong families\u201d do not de facto lessen \u201cthe need for government\u201d aid. Or perhaps the platform writers are defining \u201cstrong families\u201d as those with financial means?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s actually a really important question\u2014what does the platform intend to convey when speaking of \u201cstrong families\u201d? Conservatives often seem to equate \u201cfamily\u201d with \u201cmarriage,\u201d but extended African Americans families often have strong bonds irrespective of such a contract. What is a \u201cstrong family\u201d? But wait\u2014I think we\u2019re about to get closer to a definition.<\/p>\n
It is also why everyone should be concerned\u00a0about the state of the American family today, not\u00a0because of ideology or doctrine, but because of\u00a0the overwhelming evidence of experience, social\u00a0science, and common sense.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Note the appeal to social science, and the claim that this isn\u2019t about ideology.<\/p>\n
All of which give us\u00a0these truths about traditional marriage: Children\u00a0raised in a two-parent household tend to be\u00a0physically and emotionally healthier, more likely to\u00a0do well in school, less likely to use drugs and alcohol,\u00a0engage in crime or become pregnant outside of\u00a0marriage.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on there!<\/p>\n
We oppose policies and laws that create\u00a0a financial incentive for or encourage cohabitation.\u00a0Moreover, marriage\u00a0remains the greatest antidote\u00a0to\u00a0child poverty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Whaaaaaat.<\/p>\n
The 40 percent of children who now\u00a0are born outside of marriage are five times more\u00a0likely to live in poverty than youngsters born and\u00a0raised by a mother and father in the home. Nearly\u00a0three-quarters of the $450 billion government\u00a0annually spends on welfare goes to single-parent\u00a0households. This is what it takes for a governmental\u00a0village to raise a child, and the village is doing a\u00a0tragically poor job of it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is not how it works<\/em>.<\/p>\n
So first of all, I was right\u2014this is<\/em> about marriage. It\u2019s not about strong family bonds at all. It\u2019s about marriage<\/em>. It\u2019s not about fostering loving, caring relationships. Nope. It\u2019s about getting people to sign a piece of paper.\u00a0This should be obvious, but a piece of paper isn\u2019t going to make kids any better off. And that\u2019s the claim, isn\u2019t it? If only kids\u2019 parents all got married, child poverty would end! No wait. It wouldn\u2019t<\/em>. It turns out that the marriage rate and the child poverty rate don\u2019t correlate\u2014at all<\/em>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Anyone who has studied history at all knows that child poverty was significantly\u00a0higher in the past, when marriage rates were far higher, than it is today. Do you know what tends to guard against\u00a0poverty? Education and access to resources. Marriage doesn\u2019t make poor people suddenly financially sound. Now yes, marriage in some cases means combining two incomes (though conservatives tend to be in favor of stay-at-home mothers, which eliminates an income). But so does cohabitation, which this platform specifically inveighs against. In other words, this isn\u2019t about the combination of two incomes into one household.<\/p>\n
Remember, though, that the claim isn\u2019t just about child poverty. The claim is that children growing up in two-parent families are \u201cphysically and emotionally healthier, more likely to\u00a0do well in school, less likely to use drugs and alcohol,\u00a0engage in crime or become pregnant outside of\u00a0marriage.\u201d Well you know what?\u00a0Married couples on average have higher incomes and more higher education\u00a0unmarried couples, and having a higher income and more higher education correlates with all of those things! Why do married couples have higher incomes? Because individuals with higher incomes and greater educational attainment are more likely to marry than those with lower incomes and lower levels of educational attainment\u2014and more likely to stay married!<\/p>\n
Take a look at this data, for instance:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This data would suggest that one way to promote healthy, long-lasting marriages is to encourage women to attend college. Of course, there\u2019s the causation v. correlation issue here, too\u2014what is it about having a bachelor\u2019s degree that makes a woman\u2019s marriage likely to last longer? Perhaps it has to do with income\u2014i.e., perhaps couples\u00a0with higher incomes are more likely to stay married. In other words, it appears to go the other way around\u2014higher incomes lead to longer-lasting marriages, rather than vice versa (i.e. the Republicans\u2019 claim that marriage results in higher income and greater economic stability).<\/p>\n
There\u2019s another issue too, though.\u00a0Children benefit from growing up in a loving and stable family environment, but marriage does not automatically or always create this. This is why you can\u2019t\u00a0compare the outcomes of children with divorced parents to the outcomes of children with married never-divorced parents\u2014couples who get divorces almost by definition did not provide a loving and stable family environment before the divorce, or else they wouldn\u2019t have gotten a divorce. Just as forcing couples to marry would not magically create money that does not already exist, even so forcing couples to marry would not magically create loving and stable family environments where they do not already exist.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s still a bit more in the platform.<\/p>\n
The data and the facts lead to an inescapable\u00a0conclusion: Every child deserves a married mom and\u00a0dad.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait<\/em>. The data and facts<\/em> prove that? Really? That will be news to social science, because the data and facts<\/a> actually suggest that children with same-sex parents do just as well as other children!<\/p>\n
Also? I\u2019ve spoken with plenty of adults\u00a0who grew up in divorced households who said they were glad their parents got a divorce, because it was better than what came before, and with plenty of adults who grew up in homes without divorce who wish their parents had<\/em> gotten a divorce, because that would have been better than what they had. Oh, and I also know young adults whose parents got married because of them\u2014because they got pregnant\u2014who grew up feeling like they were the reason their obviously incompatible parents ended up stuck together, living miserable lives. So no. I\u2019m going with no<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Do you know what every child deserves? Parents and caregivers who love them and care for them, while also meeting their own needs<\/em>. You know why? Because children do better when their parents and caregivers are happy and fulfilled (i.e. not in a marriage that is making them miserable). Do you know what else every child deserves? A stable food source, adequate clothing, basic healthcare, and a roof over their head. Do you know what doesn\u2019t magically provide these things? Marriage<\/em>. Do you know what does provide these things? Affordable college and vocational training for their parents. Access to food stamps, Medicaid, and other government programs in case of need.<\/p>\n
But we\u2019re still not done.<\/p>\n
The reality remains that millions of American\u00a0families do not have the advantages that come with\u00a0that structure. We honor the courageous efforts of\u00a0those who bear the burdens of parenting alone and\u00a0embrace the principle that all Americans should be\u00a0treated with dignity and respect. But respect is not\u00a0enough. Our laws and our government\u2019s regulations\u00a0should recognize marriage as the union of one man\u00a0and one woman and actively promote married\u00a0family life as the basis of a stable and prosperous\u00a0society. For that reason, as explained elsewhere\u00a0in this platform, we do not accept the Supreme\u00a0Court\u2019s redefinition of marriage and we urge its\u00a0reversal, whether through judicial reconsideration or\u00a0a constitutional amendment returning control over\u00a0marriage to\u00a0the states.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What the hell\u00a0does \u201crespect is not enough\u201d mean? I\u2019m honestly curious. Because it looks like the platform is saying that gay people should be treated with respect, but that \u201crespect is not enough,\u201d so gay people need to be actively discriminated against in our country\u2019s marriage law, and frankly, that logic flow makes absolutely no sense.<\/p>\n
Also? You can either \u201crecognize marriage as the union of one man and one woman\u201d or \u201cactively promote married family life\u201d but you cannot do both, as the first rather gets in the way of the second. Namely, confining marriage to one man and one woman actively prevents<\/em> a segment of the population from marrying at all which by definition gets in the way of efforts to \u201cactively promote married family life.\u201d Unless, of course, we remember that to those who wrote this platform, \u201cfamily\u201d means man + woman + children, and absolutely nothing else. Which of course it does.<\/p>\n
Let me take you back to the main point I want to make here, though, because I know the anti-LGBT rights aspects of this platform have already been covered in depth. Namely, note once again\u00a0the assumption that inducing people to get married will automatically create stability and prosperity. It does not work that way<\/em>. When relationships show promise of being stable and prosperous, couples tend to marry. Those who don\u2019t marry generally do so for reasons\u2014reasons that won\u2019t just go away if some external force convinces them to marry anyway.<\/p>\n
If you want to know more about the problems with conservatives\u2019 belief that marriage is the solution to every social and economic ill, start reading sociologist Philip Cohen\u2019s blog, Family Inequality<\/a>. Check out this post<\/a>, for instance.<\/p>\n
Yes, the children of single parents face steeper odds of success than their fellow citizens whose parents are happily married. Many single parents \u2013 the vast majority of whom are women \u2013 experience chronic shortages of money, time and social support. Their children are less likely to be closely supervised, to be well prepared for kindergarten, to graduate high school, and to make it through young adulthood free from entanglements with the\u00a0criminal justice system. The intuitive case for more marriage is easy to see.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
[But]\u00a0single parenthood doesn\u2019t just cause these social ailments, it also reflects them. Some of these problems are merely the consequence of whatever caused their parents to be single in the first place: poverty, illness, incarceration, weak relationship skills, and so on. In other words, successful people are more likely to raise successful children\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0to have successful marriages. Research on marriage among poor Americans clearly shows that the majority want to be married, but they aren\u2019t for a variety of reasons related to their poverty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Marriage does not make poor couples\u00a0middle class. Marriage does not impart education on people ill-prepared for today\u2019s job market. Marriage does not create stable, loving relationships where they do not already exist. And if conservatives are so damn worried about marriage, they should be asking why<\/em> people aren\u2019t getting married. Because\u2014frankly\u2014that\u2019s what social scientists actually do.\u00a0Republicans, though? Republicans engage in magical wishful thinking. Apparently<\/em>. And you know what? Magical wishful thinking is a terrible thing to base policy on.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Republican Party platform’s section on marriage and the family rests on some really bad science—or rather, on a fundamental misunderstanding of how science works. It’s as though no one ever taught the platform’s authors the difference between correlation and causation. It’s an elementary mistake. It’s data science 101.<\/p>\n
Click through to read more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":29779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n
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