Welcome back to Good Life, a newsletter about navigating our modern culture and staying sane in the process. This Saturday, we talk about our culture, the family, and how conservatives have failed.
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Whenever I read a study that shows people on the left are getting married less than the right, I’m not really shocked. If you’ve been paying close attention to the “culture wars,” you could see this coming from a mile away. The left, which controls the levers of our entertainment and media, is largely not buying into the foundational aspect of starting a family: marriage.
Brad Wilcox of the Institute for Family Studies released a report May 1 on a study showing that the marriage divide in America isn’t just about class. It’s also about culture. Wilcox opined about a debate between progressive activist Harry Sisson and conservative commentator Isabel Brown at the University of Virginia. While one would assume neither were going to agree with much, Sisson made the case that the left actually does want the traditional life of marriage and children in the same way conservatives do.
And while that may be true in Sisson’s case or anecdotally within his friend group, the IFS study shows a massive divide between what Sisson sees and reality.
From Wilcox on the IFS study’s findings:
“No group of Americans is less likely to say marriage matters than liberals, especially the college educated. Among college-educated liberals aged 18–55, only 30% agree that children are better off with married parents — barely 1 in 3. Even liberals without college degrees are only slightly more marriage-minded, at 36 percent.
Conservatives, by contrast, continue to understand the importance of marriage: More than 70% — and especially the college-educated — say marriage matters for children. The most privileged liberals have become the most publicly dismissive of marriage’s cultural value.”
I think it’s actually a good sign that Sisson believes so deeply that, aside from radical voices on the left, his side has a positive view of marriage. It shows that there is at least some hope for this world. However, he cannot ignore the glaring problem that he represents a growingly small portion of the left that believes in marriage and the benefits it provides for children.
My long-time readers know that I view marriage as the greatest blessing of my life. My husband is strong, protective, and compassionate. But it’s more than just what I get out of the deal. As I said in my Tuesday newsletter, our children benefit from growing up in a home where they know, without question, that their parents love each other and will never leave the sacrament they entered into.
Living this example has created the foundation through which their lives grow. Our marriage and the values we instill through it ground our family during our hardest moments and joyful triumphs. If the world is spinning around them, they know without worrying that there is a safe landing to come home to.
But our modern world does not feel the same way. While Sisson claims it’s only radical voices demonizing traditional life, he seems to be willfully ignoring the reality of our digital world.