I see this raised consistently and it doesn't make any sense. First of all, why does the fact that divorces exist undermine the institution of marriage? Does the fact that business partnerships dissolve undermine business partnerships on balance? Of course not - they have their place and their value. That some choose to end doesn't mean the institution is weakened.
Indeed, if a nation has 40 million married couples and two million new marriages a year, and 1 million divorces a year, that doesn't mean that 1/2 of the marriages fail.
But again, even if there were 2 million new marriages a year and 2 million divorces a year (what some might call a 100% divorce rate), there would still be 40 million married couples out there. Why would the fact that two million marriages end in divorce somehow undermine the other 40 million marriages that are intact, or the institution of marriage itself?
I never understood the kind of thinking that says marriage as an institution is harmed because some people decide they don't want to be married anymore.
then, let me explain. growing up, none of my friend's parents were divorced nor were any of my parent's friends. my husband and i have been married for 20 years. my kids have tons of friends from divorced, remarried, blended families. i worry about my kids marrying someone that sees marriage as something that is temporary, something that oh gee, it didn't work out. the number of divorces and the fact that they are commonoplace and accepted means that societal attitudes towards the institution of marriage have changed over the years. And then there is the book that is out now, written by the 30 something product of a HAPPY divorce, about how those kids are really NOT better off than in a home with intact family. divorce is not a good thing. period.
Radical Feminism and the Nanny Government. Feminists declared decades ago their intention to destroy the Family and Marriage. Motherhood was impugned and Women were made to feel less valuable unless they pursued careers. No Fault Divorce signed into law by Gov. Ronald Regan accelerated the decline of the Family. And the Child Support Laws, Alimony, imputed income etc have made Marriages a nightmare for Men. The key is that without Big Brother replacing the Role of Fathers and Husbands this would not happen.
Conservatives recently including Rick Santorum unanimously reapproved FemNag Pork in the VAWA (Violence Against Women's Act) the worst publicly funded demonization of Men and subsidization of Divorce ever passed. Men are insane to marry in this culture as they have zero reproductive rights,
zero rights to Visitation in Divorce, and only liabilities.
This is a surprise? Rutgers University's Marriage Iniative explores the issues in depth.
The Marriage Strike is taking hold in America. Unless Women demand an end to the unreasonable demonization of Men, and support of one sided Domestic Abuse laws men will boycott Marriage and relationships. Bet on it.
That you invoke business as an analogy itself tells something of the decline of marriage into mere contractualism, an agreement where each party agrees to meet half-way. Compare this to the marriage of the Bible where "two become one flesh."
The marital ideal is lifelong love. That's why diamond anniversaries of two doting half-senile seniors get noticed in the paper. That's a far cry from an ideal business partnership, which is a temporary marriage of convenience. If marriage is just another contract, then the nutjobs aren't too far off when they call it simply a form of socially-approved prostitution.