California based Kids Against Divorce (KAD) has proposed a ballot initiative in Colorado that would require couples who want to get married to take mandatory pre-marital education. The Colorado Marriage Education Act would require potential couples including widowers to complete 10 hours of marriage education. Twenty hours would be required for second marriages and 30 hours for third ones and more.
Civil Unions are not included in the proposal meaning that homosexual couples, who cannot legally marry in Colorado, would be exempt from the requirement. KAD, which is dedicated to supporting children of divorce, will need to gather 86,105 valid signatures by Aug. 4 to put the initiative on the November ballot.
According to the Denver Post the organization plans to propose similar bills across the country. David Schel, founder of KAD and Sharon Tekolian told The Post the intended purpose of the act is to "better prepare individuals going into marriage to fulfill their new roles as spouse and potentially as parent, to furthermore protect children given that marriage is the foundation of a family unit," with Tekolian adding "Education is the key to success in every aspect of life. This will have a positive impact on marriage."
David Schel’s motivation is the divorce he has seen in his own life as a child and as a husband. The author of ‘Dear Pi’ he is separated from his wife but remains committed to reuniting with her so that his daughters can experience a whole family again.
KAD’s website is full of information about the damage that divorce inflicts, particularly on children, but has much less on ways to combat broken marriages. They do have a program of tree planting to build memorials for the children of divorce. This offers support after the fact but little to prevent the break-up in the first place.
The ballot initiative is a concrete step but many will question whether bringing in the government is any kind of solution. Many churches already offer programs that teach couples strategies for heading off problems as well as highlighting what they are. State intervention means secular involvement in an institution ordained by God.
The proposed ballot initiative also includes a tax cut for couples who voluntarily complete continuing marriage education each year. This is potentially the smartest part of the idea since it encourages married couples to work on their marriage rather than run from it. The ones doing well will survive the liberal indoctrination that has crept in and the rest won’t be any worse off.
I contacted KAD and received the following response from Sharon Tekolian: “Thank you for your interest in the Colorado Marriage Education Act. We appreciate your offer to discuss this further and would like to do so as soon as our schedule permits. Please feel free to follow up and we look forward to speaking with you.”
In other words we don’t have time to speak to you right now for whatever reason! It’s entirely possible that the media attention generated by this has overly stretched out their schedules. I also contacted two authors on their website blog but neither responded.
I was curious to learn why they chose Colorado as, in effect, a test case (a point I made clear in the inquiry). I can understand avoiding California because of the sheer cost of campaigning in the largest state as well as its left-leaning outlooks that would gravitate toward defeat. But why Colorado is unclear!
So will their concept work? Probably not because in the end it’s a nanny state solution! Their intentions seem to be worthy but as stated before the State is more interested in the opportunity to regulate marriage according to their own progressive principles. The proposal would end up becoming a pre-marriage tax (you’d have to pay for the classes) and liberal indoctrination session. That is the thinking that led to higher divorce rates in the first place.
Alyx Reese-Giles, who was married for the third time in November, told the Denver Post that despite completing six months of marriage counseling through her church, her second marriage lasted less than two months. Readers can fill in the blanks here ……
"This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard," Reese-Giles said. "The government has no business deciding what education people should or should not get before entering into marriage. Marriage is about communication and being ready to commit, and no class is going to teach you that."
Whereas Alyx has a point both about government intervention and communication it seems that many people preparing for marriage could benefit from some sensible guidance. It’s just that the nanny state is not the one that should be giving it.
