The Ruth Institute inspires and equips the Survivors of the Sexual Revolution to recover from their negative experiences and reach out to help the young. We move people from being Victims to Survivors to Advocates for positive change.
Yesterday, I posted a story about the Census Bureau dropping questions about marriage, as well as a sample email you can send to object to this development. I also posted this background information, in case you want more information before you send an email.
You may wonder then, why the Ruth Institute cares about the questions the Census Bureau asks about marital status.
Three reasons.
First, I want to call to your attention this fact: the Sexual Revolution has been victimizing people for 50 years or so. How is this possible? By suppressing the harms caused by sexual license. Each person believes their own personal story is unique, and that any sadness, loneliness, loss or grief they experience is unique to them, and perhaps even, their own fault. Connecting the dots between the pain and the Sexual Revolution would be the beginning of the end of this destructive ideology.
Second and closely related: failing to ask the right questions can be a method of suppressing information. Conversely, asking the right questions is crucial to getting the right answers.
I do not really know the intentions of the individuals in the Census Bureau who are contemplating the removal of questions about change in marital status.
I can tell you these facts:
- Women are more likely to be murdered by their cohabiting boyfriends than by their husbands.
- Children are at significantly greater risk for fatal child abuse from their mother’s cohabiting boyfriend, than from their biological parents married to each other.
- Second marriages are more likely to end in divorce than first marriages.
- Most divorces do not involve domestic violence.
We only know this information because someone asked the questions. And typically the “someone” who asked, was NOT the government. Researchers quite often have to piece the information together from multiple sources. I can hardly believe this is entirely an accident. I say this, without meaning any disrespect or without meaning to cast aspersions on the motives of everyone involved in data collection within our various levels of government.
Finally, I am a nerd at heart. Data is important to me. I cut my teeth on social science research, specifically in economics. I love the stuff. In my heart, I want us to get the facts right, and respect the integrity of the data.
Dropping important questions from the Census simply cannot be a good thing. Send a note to Jennifer Jessup and tell her your concerns. jjessup@doc.gov But don’t delay. Comments close on December 30, 2014 .
