Posted On: July 20, 2006, 3:12 pm CDT

Posted By: Much Ado About Nothing

It is true that Sweden and other European countries have had civil unions for about ten years but where is the proof of causation for any decrease in the marriage rate???? Sweden has a much lower rate of teen pregnancies then we do. Is that also the result of civil unions? If so, should the Federal government require states to adopt civil union laws????

I guess we should just agree to disagree as I still do not see my marriage devalued or the covenant with my wife to be any less exclusive.

As to the issue of cultural decline I have heard people say this for decades but the world still seems to be doing ok. When I started in insurance it was a world where all middle and upper level people in the company were white and male and all the "girls" were clerks and were usually white women as blacks weren't hired for any positions (and still were at the back of the bus when I was very young in some parts of the US.)Everyone smoked at their desk and environmentalism was some crazy idea as everyone knew smokestacks meant progress and were good things.Drunk drivers were often simply told to be more careful if stopped by the police as it was no big deal and you could always plead any DWI ticket if you got one down to an equipment violation. You never heard about incest or child molestation because no one ever talked about it other than in whisphers and rape was usually the woman's fault. You had no OSHA or mine safety laws -- I remember when 5 or ten miners dying as happened in this last year was not big news as it recently was as it happened all the time.

As you can probably tell, I am in favor of "cultural decline" and hope it continues.