The Empathy of Mittens

[Mehmentum]

More up to date map of gay marriage laws from wikipedia.


Dark Red: Gay Marriage and civil unions banned constitutionally
Red: Gay Marriage banned consitutionally
Light Red: Gay Marriage banned by state law
Light Grey: No specific prohibition or recognition of same-sex marriages or unions
Dark Grey: Same-sex marriages performed elsewhere recognized1
Light Blue: Legislation granting limited/enumerated rights
Blue: Same Sex unions legal
Dark Blue: Same Sex Marraige legal

[Mehmentum]

Look what Smeagol finds! Statistically significant & everything:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/01/divorce-rates-appear-higher-in-states.html

Banning Gay Marriage is correlated with Increasing Divorce Rates.

That is some pretty damning evidence.

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[Mehmentum]

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The proposition is true. Marriage in MA in 2010 is much worse off than it was in 1990.

Obviously gay marriage isn't the cure for what is ailing marriage, especially since the marriage rate in MA continues to decline.

True, but I fail to see how the year the divorce rate in 1990, a full 14 years before Massachusests legalized gay marriage, has any relevance in this discussion.

The divorce rate in MA rose between 1990 and 2000, a decade in which no gay marraiges were performed.  It fell between 2000 and 2010, when gay marraiges were performed for roughly half the decade.

[Mehmentum]

It gives us a snapshot of what marriage used to be like. I can go back further, but it will just make my point even more obvious. Marriage is on the decline - gay marriage is simply accelerating the decline.

Your own post said that marraige in MA was 7.9 in 1990, 5.8 in 2000, 5.5 in 2010.  The decline between 1990 and 2000 was 2.1 or by about 27%. The decline between 2000 and 2010 was .3, or about 5%.

The decline is actually decellarating. 

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I'm not quite sure what your arguing here, sorry but either you were a little vauge or I'm just being overly cautious in interpretting what your saying.
Regardless, I figure:
a) You could be arguing that the divorce rate is decreasing more slowly than the marriage rage.
b) You could be arguing that the people who do get married nowadays are more likely to be in a heathier relationship with each other.

B actually makes sense and I suspect it could be ture, it certainly deserves some looking into, but I fail to see how its a bad thing.  I would actually consider that a good development for our society.

A on the other hand is simply not true.  Your marraige divorce ratios in your other post show that while between 1990 and 2000, there were more divorces per marriage.  Between 2000 and 2010 there were fewer divorces per marriage. 

[Mehmentum]

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Let me put it in the simplest terms I can.  The divorce/marraige situation was getting worse between 1990 and 2000.  The situation has gotten better since 2000.

How about a hypothetical example.

Suppose somebody's weight in 2008 was 160 pounds.
This increased to 240 pounds in 2010.
By 2012, they've started working out and now wiegh 180 pounds.

Would you say that they are currently gaining or losing weight?  Would you project them to increase or decrease their weight if they continue the workout program? 

[Mehmentum]

And I'd say you are either trolling me or deluding yourself.  Good day.