Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 74(4) Nov 2024
Book Review
The Future of Christian Marriage
by Mark Regnerus
Oxford University Press
Mark
Regnerus is the courageous and brilliant American professor of sociology
who published research a decade ago showing the negative social outcomes
for children brought up by same-sex couples as compared to those brought
up by heterosexual couples who are married. In spite of a huge backlash,
he stands by his research.
In this book, he looks at marriage. The research is based on interviews carried out by the author and an analysis of social surveys. The news is bad: right across the world, marriage is in decline, especially in the West. Because there are fewer marriages, there are fewer children growing up in stable fam- ily circumstances. Fewer children are being born in the West.
When we reflect on the decline of the marriage institution, we may be tempted to put the blame on those who promoted marriage redefinition. But marriage was in serious trouble well before "gay marriage" was even thought about. Marriage has been seen for decades as something that couples should think about only after they have achieved financial security. The Christian vision of marriage as a vocation demanding self-sacrifice was effec- tively thrown out. One would assume that couples who engage in premarital trial marriages are more likely to end up having stable marriages. The author puts forward evidence to the contrary.
The overall message of this book is not entirely negative. There is overwhelming evidence that marriage is good for men, women and children. The teachings of Pope John Paul II remain true to this day. The Church needs to focus more on helping married couples, especially those under- going difficulties.