Malcolm in the Muddle

Malcolm Muggeridge - famed British journalist, one-time atheist, now hidden in Christ – wrote in his book ‘Christ and the Media’:

“… a nightmare that regularly afflicts me. I’m in the BBC studio, deep underground. Above, the mushroom clouds are forming, and the last traces of civilized life are disappearing. In the studio we are engrossed in a discussion about the alarming rise in juvenile delinquency. ‘What is needed,’ the life peeress is resonantly contending, ‘is more and better education.’ ‘If only,’ she goes on, ‘the age of consent could be lowered to nine, and the school age raised to nineteen; if only birth control pills could be distributed to Brownies with their morning milk, and sex education begin in the play school, and Lady Chatterly’s Lover get into the comics, all would yet be well.’ It is at this point that I wake up screaming, so that I never know how the discussion proceeds, and what is its outcome, if any.”

The State of Our Unions

Recently, I have been doing some research on cohabitation leading to marriage. Particularly I have been looking for secular research. A colleague pointed me to 'The National Marriage Project' a "nonpartisan, nonsectarian and interdisciplinary initiative located at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey."

Not only do they have topic specific research but they also put out a paper each year entitle 'The State of Our Unions'. Having read it, I would like to suggest that this paper is worthy of all of our consideration. The chances are that those who approach this blog either do so from a stance of agreement or disagreement. Never the less, I believe that a majority of those who approach this blog have a deep love and respect for the institution of marriage.

That being said, please consider reading this paper. No where in the paper are the words "contraceptives" or "birth control" used. I would ask the discerning reader to ask herself/himself, as she/he reads this, whether it is reasonable and/or likely that the contraceptive age has had any bearing on what they report to be 'The State of Our Unions'. And if it has had a bearing, has it been positive or negative, and to what degree?