I read the POPS vs Gardner summary, though your link didn't work. It seems it was about divorce more than marriage. I guess the core of "social conservatism" would be strongly against divorce in the first place, and strongly for monogamy. So , to say that "social conservatism" "did more to destroy marriage than anyone else" indicates that you're approaching from a different direction. In fact "social conservatism" is one one of the bedrocks upon which the Constitution was founded. Let me play "Kreskin," or however you spell the Johnny Carson character-- you , or a very close friend, got beat up in court over custody and child support issues, and you now live in Sweden to be outside of the jurisdiction
The conclusion is based on actual political history - not a loosely constructed theory. The Reagan administration promoted “government enforcement of personal responsibility” - a pretty obvious oxymoron that started me on the path of understanding the level of stupidity involved in politics. People whose political views are steered by socially conservative values jumped on the band-wagon in droves. Divorce and marriage law is the same thing. It’s also called family law and was previously a state issue (as the Constitution would have it) under “civil law.” More than that, the USSC had previously defined marriage as a “sacred, private institution.” The POPS case changed that by redefining marriage and family issues as “social policy.” I guess I’ll have to find another link to the POPS case.
I was an expert witness in P.O.P.S. - a scientist who created the most complete theoretical child support decision model in the world. http://isr.nu/cs/index.htm