An Unjustified Gay Marriage Assumption

The quoted paragraphs are an interesting read because the guest invited to speak at the 2014 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in New Orleans put gay marriage in a positive light, even though the empirical data he relied on for his conclusion was "really preliminary" [1] and in my opinion, completely lacking and therefore premature and unjustified.  He did admit that his conclusion was an assumption (at least that was what I thought I heard on EWTN) upon cross-examination by Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Washington.  His admission, if it had been uttered on live television, was omitted from the article at http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/bishops-receive-stark-image-state-american-society:

[W. Bradford] Wilcox's talk, dedicated to the topic of "marriage and the economy," likewise focused on the benefits of marriage. The sociologist, who is an associate professor of at the University of Virginia and directs the university's National Marriage Project, argued that there is a two-way correlation between marriage and poverty.

Citing sociological data that over the past few decades the poorest Americans have become the least likely to marry, Wilcox said, "There is a growing class divide in marriage in America."

"The United States is increasingly separate and unequal when it comes to marriage today," he said. Continuing to cite studies that say children who come from unmarried households are less likely to attend college or find economic success, Wilcox made a two-point argument.

"If you care about bridging the marriage divide, you should care about economic justice, cultural change, and the renewal of civil society," he said. "If you care about poverty, if you care about economic opportunity in America, you should care about marriage."

Wilcox, who was raised by a single mother, said sociological data indicate that children from single-parent families "are less likely to flourish."

"Boys who grow up in a home with their married parents are much less likely to go to jail," he said. "Marriage matters for daughters. When dad is around ... her odds of becoming pregnant as a teenager are remarkably lower."

Wilcox also argued that unmarried cohabitation by parents leads to instability for children.

"The most risky place for our kids in this country is ... a single parent with an unrelated partner in the household," he said. "The safest place for our children when it comes to physical abuse, sexual abuse, is an intact, married family."

Earlier in the week, Wilcox became the center of controversy because of a Washington Post op-ed he co-authored that argued that the risk of physical abuse is less for women and children within a married home.

Critics of the column accused Wilcox and co-author Robin Fretwell Wilson of misusing data and ignoring studies that show violence rates drop alongside those for marriage. Wilcox told NCR in an interview Thursday that selection could play a role in the disparity: Women in good relationships advance toward marriage while those in bad marriages seek separation and divorce.

As for economic inequality, he said he didn't think marriage is "necessarily the primary factor" involved, citing other variables like taxation, technological advances and education, but the marriage divide is "one piece of the growing economic inequality story in America."

Following his talk, Wilcox took a number of questions from bishops on the floor of the meeting. Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput asked why, if marriage is so valuable for economic success, same-sex marriage is being legalized in so many states.

"Most of the scientists would say that there's no difference ... between a stable same-sex family and a stable heterosexual family," replied Wilcox, noting that those scientists might consider stability the "key factor, not other issues that might relate to a child's well-being."

Yakima, Wash., Bishop Joseph Tyson asked why same-sex marriage is not considered by the studies Wilcox cited to be as dangerous as cohabitation.

"I think that the assumption ... is that when same-sex marriage is legalized and it is given cultural support, it will be as stable as heterosexual marriage," Wilcox replied.

"Is there data to back that?" Tyson asked.

"The data suggest that same-sex couples -- and this is really preliminary -- are more likely to have stable relationships when the legal regime is more supportive of their relationships," Wilcox replied.

I do, however, agree with the rest of Professor W. Bradford Wilcox's presentation, in particular, his statements on social justice:  "If you care about bridging the marriage divide, you should care about economic justice, cultural change, and the renewal of civil society," and "If you care about poverty, if you care about economic opportunity in America, you should care about marriage." [2], [3]

 
[1] http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/bishops-receive-stark-image-state-american-society
[2] Ibid.
[3] Note:  I agree with these two statements on the condition that marriage is defined by natural law as a union between a man and a woman.