Re: Just what IS "marriage" anyway?
In this hypothesis lies the rub, though. While I'm no religious man, to that point, I'm atheist.
Although it seems inevitable, I was not trying to bring religion into the forefront of this particular issue. As a matter of full disclosure, I would describe myself as an agnostic atheist, however, I feel reducing the rate of unwanted pregnancies and STIs is a secular goal that can be shared by religious and non-religious alike.
However, with all the information out there about pregnancy and STDs,
Information is out there, yes. Is that information usually correct? Maybe. Sexual education as a whole remains a complicated subject that involves many issues. Politics, religion, the role of parenting, it is all there. There are many ulterior motives at play that may filter facts. Additionally, the information needs to be presented in an accessible way that is also applicable to young and old alike. To tell someone what causes pregnancy and STIs is one thing but educating an individual/population about sex, its consequences and degrees of safe practice is a whole other challenge.
yet we see children born to single mothers, especially those living without the fathers in their lives to provide any type of support, at all time highs.
I am a semester out from my population health and sexual medicine courses so I cannot pull pertinent sources from memory but I do not necessarily agree with this statement. Granted, I am using teen pregnancy as a case study, but unwanted teen pregnancy has been decreasing for the past twenty years. Yes, we still have room for improvement. States with abstinence only education see stagnant or increasing rates of teen pregnancy in general. Minority and lower socioeconomic populations also have not seen the substantial decrease in teen pregnancy rates. However, we are seeing general progress. I think if you take education models from populations that have seen successful declines in teen pregnancy and STIs and implement similar programs in high value demographics we will eventually see the gains we all hope for.
Although behind a paywall (I believe) this article seems like a good review of current hurdles.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.proxy.lib.mcw.edu/pubmed/22790099
We have the knowledge, classes are being taught, and yet we don't see things improving, quite to the contrary, really. With all that we know, how is this possible? I think it comes back to an immediate gratification society and those looking to thumb their collective noses at traditional values more so than simply "breaking the shackles" of religion.
I will grant that certain STI rates are increasing. However, I would argue that this is more an issue of drug resistance rather than an increase in unprotected promiscuity. I am not sold that we have more "broken home" children now than in the recent past. I am more of the view that human nature is a pretty set in stone thing. Generational differences may be present on a superficial level, but underlying drives of human nature are more constant. People will still lie, steal, cheat and have sex. The sooner we recognize that these traits are inherent to our species, the sooner we can go about figuring out how to decrease the prevalence of these activities. Putting our fingers in our ears and pretending that we are the most perfect specimen to grace this earth is quite counterproductive.*
Since this thread is about "marriage" I will put an obligatory point in about that. The only argument that I have heard against same sex marriage that is relatively logically consistent is that marriage should not be defined by the government at all. However, there are 100s of laws on the books specific to marriage. Therefore, I think, that argument is irrelevant.
*Note. I am not saying you hold any of these particular views besides what you explicitly said. I am more going off of a stream of consciousnesses based on the points you brought up.
). This number went down after a statewide initiative to educate and provide access to BC. They cut the funding and the rates rose exponentially, esp in the trouble spots like the inner cities. Thankfully that Gov left to run for prez and the funding was restored. Numbers dropped again and have continued to do so. 
