Comments about ‘Traditional marriage has impact beyond faith’

"While there's limited data on the effects of same-sex marriage on children, Wilcox hypothesized that in a few years, research will show that children in lesbian or gay family situations will exhibit some of the same problems as children from father-less or cohabiting relationships."

So in the meantime we're just going to guess? You know, why does this state allow single people to adopt but not allow a homosexual partner to adopt?

Anyway, most studies lately are showing children of lesbian couples do the best (lower rates of abuse and such than straight couples).

Sigh... Why DNews? Why do you keep running these absurd opinion pieces. You are on the wrong side of the issue, and history will flush it out in time.

"Our support for the renewal of marriage is not predicated on some religious worldview."

It's not?!?! Since when? Who made this decision? Did I miss something?

For Wilcox to say that it is not based on a religious worldview is dishonest.

That's all it is.

I guess this means that the answer to the question, "Why do you oppose equal rights?" will no longer be, "Because God says homosexuality is wrong"...???

Let's hope so!

I wonder if the relationship between childhood problems and broken households/single parent/cohabitation cited by these researchers is causation or merely correlation. That's an important distinction.

And for a scholar, Wilcox isn't impressing me in the last few paragraphs. There is little data on same sex marriages, but by golly he is going to make assumptions anyway. And roughhousing/wrestling is a needed father-provided activity? I hope that is an out-of-context quote. What if one of your two fathers provides this? Is that different? What if your straight father does not? Is he being negligent?

[Such children (those raised by same-sex couples) often miss out on the unique father-provided benefits, like wrestling and rough-housing, activities where children learn self-control and appropriate expression of aggression.]

That's it? Two women are inferior parents because those kids won't get to wrestle and rough-house? Please tell me there was an error on your web page and the article was truncated.

...something we've always known. Can't wait to see RanchHands response to this.

Thanks for this article. It seems strange that we have to defend traditional marriage,which has been the norm since history began. Families with functioning mothers and fathers do the best.

So rough-housing and wrestling with your father are required for a good childhood?

Also, is this part of the reason why conservatives hate Obama? I mean, he was successfully raised by a single mother.

These people are experts. They know what they're talking about. Too bad it's not politically correct. It's not nice to hear that your lifestyle is damaging to children and society in general. Not when you just want to do whatever you want no matter if it's right or wrong. Selfishness is always a lot easier, isn't it.

We need to listen to these people. Our society is in serious trouble and the breakdown of traditional marriage is one of the main reasons. If we keep on this self-destructive path, there might not be much time left for us.

Well there..W. Bradford Wilcox (if that really IS your first name) religion has nothing to do with this? Sorry... I thought you were at BYU.

Truthlover, I guess if you consider what is residing in the Whitehouse as successful. Just because a person rises to a social status does not indicate that they are successful. Many "successful" persons end up in less than desirable circumstances - suicide, mental institutions, etc. Success is an interesting label.

As Emajor eluded to earlier, there is a serious lack of justification for this being causation, and not just correlation. It's just as likely, or probably more likely a result of economic factors, not the presence of two parents. You need to separate the results out by economic class. Is a child of a wealthy single mother more likely to go to jail than the child of wealthy married children?

It seems more likely that single parent homes are more common amongst the poorer populations. Also, poorer populations are more likely to engage in crime--why would a rich kid hold up a 7-11?

Here's an equally relevant hypothesis: people in Beverly Hills eat more organic foods and have a lower probability that those in Compton of going to jail. The result must be that eating organic foods lowers your chance of going to jail.

@Pat1: There is no evidence or data about marriage at the point where history began, unless you are trying to take something straight out of the Bible and apply it to Adam and Eve. If so, after that point, "traditional" marriage consisted many times of multiple wives. Not quite a "traditional" marriage. And the evidence about what the man's versus the woman's duties were, I'm sure, lacking.

@Cats: Are you telling us these speakers at this event are "the" experts, and that it is their/his word that is the end all be all on this matter? If so, we're in a lot of trouble, as the buy basically admits he's only guessing as to what children of homosexual couples will turn out to be. By the way, you use terms like "lifestyle" and "traditional." What lifestyle are you speaking of. Hopefully not a homosexual one, because the data is still not there to make a determination as to its effects on society, except the fact that the religous right want the evil government involvement to get involved. As some of us here in Colorado say: Focus on your own family!

Thanks for your research! If we just look around, it is not very difficult to see the negative impact non-traditional marriage is having on the future generation. If things continue as they are going without more support of traditional marriage and raising healthy, well-adjusted children, we're in trouble!!

Supporting the traditional family is the best way to make our society stronger. The breakdown of the traditional family unit is the greatest threat we have ever faced. Bigger than global warming or terrorism by far. I know I will be labeled intolerant or a hater or whatever. I've heard all the lies before so I really don't care.

@Cats | 7:29 a.m. Jan. 28, 2011

"These people are experts. They know what they're talking about."

Is that a fact? So then, you'll certainly accept the resolutions in support of gay and lesbian parental rights by the following professional organizations: American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the Child Welfare League of America, among others outside of of the U.S.

Do these organizations count as "experts" to you?

Re: truthlover

"Also, is this part of the reason why conservatives hate Obama? I mean, he was successfully raised by a single mother."

If anything, Obama helps to prove Wilcox's point. Wilcox cited studies that show children raised by a single mother are more likely to be substance abusers. Obama smokes - smoking is substance abuse.

I'm going to give this guy the benefit of the doubt and blame it on editing. Because this guy did nothing but throw out assumptions of what data may show in the future based on current data that has nothing to do with same sex relationships.

What will the argument be when data does show that children in same sex marriages are just as well-adjusted and healthy as those in opposite-sex households? I suppose it will have to go back to the "God said so" argument.