Blog #22

Although some presidential candidates say (2012) that returning to our 'Christian roots' will solve the problems of this 'increasingly secular country,' data from a variety of sources suggests the opposite.

As the country has become more secular a variety of social problems have diminished -- things such as crime, divorce, and teen pregnancy. Conservative Mississippi, which has the highest church attendance rate in the country also has the highest murder rate. Vermont, one of the most liberal states, has one of the lowest murder rates.

Source: Chicago Tribune, January, 2012

A topic that has directly
affected content on this site.

Turing Social Logic Upside Down *

Here's one to try to explain.

The parts of the country -- specifically the "red states" -- that are best known for conservative family values have the highest rates of social dysfunction, homicide, and people sent to prison. At the same time these are the same areas that have the highest rates of church attendance.

Does this not turn logic upside down?

If you value stable marriage and two-parent families you will find a higher percentage of them in the liberal blue states.
- Jonathan Rauch, National Journal

Aren't conservative values supposed to be all about stable families, non-violence, and the advantages of faith-based mental health?

But multiple studies have shown just the opposite. The latest book covering this issue is by family law professors Naomi Cahn and June Carbone, as reviewed in National Journal.

Here are five proven findings that shed some light on this conundrum.

First, the idea of "moral traditionalism" seems to have backfired. Young people trying to adhere to the idea of sexual abstinence and "no sex until after marriage" are getting married earlier. And that's related to divorce.

Second, getting married early is inversely related to education and the ability to pursue higher levels of education.

Third, the conservative, Republican red state areas of the country are associated with lower education levels, which is related to spousal abuse, child abuse, and, of course, divorce.

Fourth, lower educational levels are associated with unemployment, which is related to all the above.

Fifth, lower educational levels are associated with a greater incidence of STD and pregnancies outside of marriage.*

It's interesting that we keep coming back to education.

I'm reminded of the father who with some trepidation was seeing his son off to college. His parting advice was, "Now, son, when you get there don't you start getting a bunch of ideas!"

I've known parents to pull their kids out of college when they found out they were learning things they didn't agree with (Maybe like the above findings?)

NOTE: We welcome submissions with authoritative documentation that take the opposite view.

* Although some people objected to this post, no one provided evidence to refute what's presented here.

One writer provided a link to this article (published May 1, 2011) that elaborates on many of these points.

In the interest of full disclosure on this topic, a number of years ago we had a large section on this site about male-female relationships by a person well qualified to write in that area. Among the 70 chapters there were paragraphs on birth control and the prevention of sexual disease.

Some people objected to that and had the site banned in schools. Even though both issues were (and still are) major social problems, we had to remove the materials so that the cybercourses would be available to students.

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