'Does Mormonism have a marriage problem?' New York Times columnist asks

Our take: Prompted by a recent Newsweek article about Mitt Romney's LDS faith, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat addresses the question, "Does Mormonism have a marriage problem?" While Douthat acknowledges the current collision of the Latter-day Saint view of one-man-one-woman marriage and the mainstream acceptance of same-sex marriage, he also notes that in states such as Utah, where intact biological families abound, problems like poverty and teen pregnancy are less prevalent. As America struggles to define marriage, Frum says we could learn something from the Mormon model.

In a Newsweek column making the case that Mitt Romney's Mormon faith will be a positive influence on his presidency, David Frum includes the following caveat:

"Of course voters may also want to weigh some of Mormonisms more worrisome features. Just as 19th-century Mormons found themselves in profound conflict with the United States over the issue of polygamy, so could the theologically grounded commitment of todays LDS church to one-man-one-woman marriage place its members on a collision course with the 21st-century American mainstream, which increasingly accepts same-sex marriage."

The ironies of history are rich indeed, arent they? Having collided with enlightened American opinion 150 years ago over its deviations from the common Western understanding of marriage, the Mormon Church could be facing a similar collision a century later for hewing too firmly to that same understanding.

That irony aside, though, its worth pondering for a moment what such a collision would say about contemporary American culture.

Read more about the Mormon marriage model on The New York Times.