Banning Divorce – Part 3

The satirical stunt campaign to remove divorce from California law is all over the media again. Here's Judy Lin's Associated Press article.

The effort is meant to be a satirical statement after California voters outlawed gay marriage in 2008, largely on the argument that a ban is needed to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage. If that's the case, then Marcotte reasons voters should have no problem banning divorce.

That we will dissolve something upon request does not mean we do not value that thing. This is like saying that if we ban a certain kind of vehicle from public streets because of safety issues, then we are compelled to take other steps in the name of safety as well.

"Since California has decided to protect traditional marriage, I think it would be hypocritical of us not to sacrifice some of our own rights to protect traditional marriage even more," the 38-year-old married father of two said.

Not at all. The California Marriage Amendment campaign did not express a belief that marriage couldn't undergo dissolution. "Hypocrisy!" is a favorite accusation of those who oppose standards in the first place, but it is rarely used correctly these days.

[Much more after the jump.]

But the odds are stacked against a campaign funded primarily by the sale of $12 T-shirts featuring bride and groom stick figures chained at the wrists.

I wonder if it escapes his wife that he apparently thinks that marriage is akin to imprisonment?

Even if his proposed constitutional amendment made next year's ballot, it's not clear how voters would react.

It is no coincidence that only after "easy" no-fault divorce without shame has become the norm that marriage neutering advocates have surfaced. As such, if divorce was removed from California, I'm certain that there would be a lot fewer same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses.

As much as everyone would like to see fewer divorces, making it illegal would be "impractical," said Ron Prentice, the executive director of the California Family Council who led a coalition of religious and conservative groups to qualify Proposition 8.

People would simply go to other states to get their divorce.

Marcotte stopped dozens of people during another signature drive in downtown Sacramento. Among them was Ryan Platt, 32, who said he signed the petition in support of his lesbian sister, even though he thinks it would be overturned if voters approved it.

How exactly does this support Platt's lesbian sister? Is she married and fearing she'd be worse off if divorced?

The U.S. divorce rate is 47.9 percent, according to data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics reports. That figure, however, does not include California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana and Minnesota because those six states no longer report their divorce rates to the center.

It is important to keep in mind that these rates include second, third, fourth, etc. marriages, which are more likely to end in divorce. First marriages are much more likely to last. Also, first marriages with a bride and groom who did not shack up before they married are less likely to end in divorce.

Let the pranksters have their fun mocking the deep convictions of others.

As for me, since divorce (via laws and court rulings), especially in California, is biased againt fathers, especially sole income earners, banning divorce would actually take away a legal tool that could be used against me. I’m definitely better off financially without divorce, unless my fiscally intelligent wife suddenly decides debt accumulation is a good idea.

Previously: Banning Divorce - Part 1, Banning Divorce – Part 2