Defending marriage--follow up

A follow up from last week's "Defending Marriage" discussion...

Here's an article discussing the same issue, with a few new ideas.  Let's discuss:

First things first, though:  this group insists that prohibiting gay marriage is the first and most important step towards strengthening regular marriages.  Maybe I'm just stupid, but I fail to see how legalizing gay marriage would make my marriage weaker, nor how making it forbidden would make it stronger.

[Note: Upon reflection, I've decided I'm not stupid...]

Skipping over that, though, let's see what other suggestions they provide:

Eliminate/reduce 'no-fault' divorces

Divorce will always be present (and necessary at times) yet there's certainly no reason to make it ridiculously easy.  I'm no lawyer, so I couldn't say how exactly to limit divorces to avoid loopholes and/or abuses, but let's leave this as a 'good idea with potential'.

Tax revisions benefiting married couples

Getting rid of any 'marriage penalties' in regards to taxes is an absolute must--society may not be able to encourage people to stay married, but it certainly shouldn't give couples a tangible financial incentive not to be married.  This seems to be a definite 'yes'.  (One issue, though:  since the financial benefits of marriage are the most sought after 'prize' by gay marriage advocates anyway, won't an increase in marriage benefits also increase the outcry by gays for being blocked from getting them themselves?  I wonder if the 'defend marriage' advocates would ever consider a compromise where married couples received increased benefits, but gay couples were allowed to share in them as well...)

A more positive portrayal of marriage in textbooks

Hmmm...need more information here.  What do they consider to be a negative portrayal of marriage in a current textbook?  Discussions (or mentions) of sexual activity between 'partners' instead of 'spouses'?  What child's textbook would have anything significant about marriage as a social function anyway?  Let's put this as "?".

Policies aiding young college graduates so they could afford to marry sooner

Don't know what else you could do, though--if they've graduated, then just having a job will be all that matters.  I wouldn't oppose more robust job placement programs, but that's only tangentially related to 'strengthening marriages'.

If you're still in college, though--you could always use additional financial aid, especially with young children--but that brings up the same issues as any new welfare policy:  who's eligible, how much to give, for how long, and who's going to pay for it?  If the purpose is 'strengthening marriages' would you then provide benefits only to married couples, and not to single mothers or fathers?  There's a real minefield...  Let's say 'maybe' here, too.

In any case, there still isn't an obvious solution to how to encourage people to get married and stay married.  Financial incentives are usually effective, but figuring out the who, what, when, and how much will be really tricky...

(link to article and additional from-the-left analysis can be found at everythingsruined--STILL one of the best written blogs around which contains almost entirely things that you--the average BoD reader--will probably not agree with)