Christianity's decline likely due to collapse of marriage, fatherhood: survey

This is an enormous difference in a child's life. When the Father gets down on his knees and prays to God, children take notice. Absolutely nothing against mothers taking their children to Mass, but if Dad isn't there, the will not last long.

Wish I could find it; but I did read a study recently that confirmed what you say -- if a father demonstrates religious conviction, the children are more likely to identify with the same denomination as their parents; but stats for the children whose "mother only" took them to church follow the younger generation's overall decline in religious affiliation.

It certainly was true in my personal experience. My mom didn't give much of a hoot; but my father's faith was strong all of his life. Although I strayed as a young adult, I came back literally to the faith of my father. Reminds me of that great old hymn:

Faith of Our Fathers

Does a "lower quality of marriage" (than the romantic fantasy most women imagine marriage to be) justify divorce?

Your post reveals hurt feelings and personal resentment. I am sorry this happened to you. My marriage to a Golden Boy respected professional man and “permanent adolescent” narcissist almost ruined my life and my offsprings' spiritual health, as well; but recovery is worth the effort.

Present conditions for marriage are very difficult and there is a lot of misinformation around. In the end, none of us is promised or guaranteed a good marriage; but the best thing any of us can do is improve our own chances by working on ourselves, understanding marriage from God's point of view, and being willing to learn the other person's context and deeper personal qualities beyond looks, interests or income.

That said, I've done graduate work on marriage in the U.S. and its post-WW2 rise and fall. I try to post about wide social trends from statistics, not personal opinion; and try to find and post a credible link when citing a stat.

Years later Candace Bergen basically said that Dan Quayle was right.

Are you sure it was Candace? I had not heard that.

I do know that highly respected scholar Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, former co-director of the National Marriage Project research team at Rutgers University, wrote an article titled Dan Quayle Was Right that was published in The Atlantic in 1993, and quoted by many since then.

PS
The abuse stats I cited have to do with physical abuse, not emotional abuse alone. Is there ever a justification for remaining in a situation with physical abuse from a larger or stronger partner?

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