Thursday, January 29, 2004
Marriage is slowly dying in Scandinavia
"A majority of children in Sweden and Norway are born out of wedlock. Sixty percent of first-born children in Denmark have unmarried parents. Not coincidentally, these countries have had something close to full gay marriage for a decade or more. Same-sex marriage has locked in and reinforced an existing Scandinavian trend toward the separation of marriage and parenthood. The Nordic family pattern--including gay marriage--is spreading across Europe. And by looking closely at it we can answer the key empirical question underlying the gay marriage debate. Will same-sex marriage undermine the institution of marriage? It already has."
This is the opening paragraph of an important article by Stanley Kurtz in The Weekly Standard. It's highly relevant both in New Zealand and the USA/Canada/UK, where homosexual marriage (or its near-relative, Civil Unions) are being legislated. In New Zealand, 44% of children are now born outside marriage. There are some strong warnings for what will happen.
"A majority of children in Sweden and Norway are born out of wedlock. Sixty percent of first-born children in Denmark have unmarried parents. Not coincidentally, these countries have had something close to full gay marriage for a decade or more. Same-sex marriage has locked in and reinforced an existing Scandinavian trend toward the separation of marriage and parenthood. The Nordic family pattern--including gay marriage--is spreading across Europe. And by looking closely at it we can answer the key empirical question underlying the gay marriage debate. Will same-sex marriage undermine the institution of marriage? It already has."
This is the opening paragraph of an important article by Stanley Kurtz in The Weekly Standard. It's highly relevant both in New Zealand and the USA/Canada/UK, where homosexual marriage (or its near-relative, Civil Unions) are being legislated. In New Zealand, 44% of children are now born outside marriage. There are some strong warnings for what will happen.
