The case against the anti-marriage right

From: Ben Boychuk, Opinion and Analysis editor [View this email in your browser]( [Blaze Media] [Blaze Media] DjelicS/ Getty Images Blaze Opinion: The case against the anti-marriage right “He who finds a wife,” the Book of Proverbs tells us, “finds a good thing.” Then again, as Groucho Marx observed, "Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?" But for a small but vocal faction of online "red pill" influencers, Groucho's lighthearted quip has hardened into bitter dogma: Marriage is not a good or wonderful thing. Marriage is bad for men. I'm Ben Boychuk, [Opinion and Analysis]( editor for Blaze Media. Every week, I'll share with you a can't-miss story with insights you won't find anywhere else, some gems you might have missed at TheBlaze, and — if you're interested — some of my own reading that I think you'll enjoy Brad Wilcox is a professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. He's also a Future of Freedom fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. His [new book,]( "Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization," takes dead aim at the social forces — including online influencers — that are undermining marriage and jeopardizing the happiness and well-being of a generation of men and women. Recently, I asked Wilcox to write a commentary answering some of the more egregious criticisms of the red-pilled right. He responded with a dynamite piece: "[No, marriage is not a death sentence for men](." "In fact, the opposite is true," he writes. "Not only do men who get and stay married live longer, but they have more sex, a lot more money, and have happier lives than their unmarried fellow men." [Read the whole thing](. And [buy Wilcox's book](, "Get Married." While you're at it: [Helen Roy interviewed Wilcox]( for Blaze Media’s lifestyle section, [Align](. As Roy observes, “Apparently, marriage needs defending not only from the left but also from whatever is calling itself “right' these days.” Wilcox is just the man for the job.   GEMS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED "[From Soros to Beijing: Unveiling the billionaires behind transgenderism](" by Glenn Beck. “[Hakeem Jeffries smirks as GOP infighting hands Democrats control](" by Steve Deace. "[Trump’s tyranny? More like Time’s tired tirades](" by Rob Eno. "[Why is the GOP still pushing the left’s decarceration agenda?](" by Daniel Horowitz. "[Hate binds a bizarre coalition of contradictory leftist forces](" by Auron MacIntyre. "[How the deep state plans to foil Trump’s return](" by Paul Gottfried. "[My front-row seat to Stormy’s shakedown](" by Ken LaCorte. “‘[Psychological gentrification’ is muddling the American mind](” by Delano Squires. [Read more opinion & analysis from Blaze News](   WHAT THE EDITOR IS READING “[Pursuit of Happiness](” by Christopher Flannery, The American Mind Certainly America is not just an “idea,” but there is an American idea. Put simply, it is the idea of political freedom. For my father and grandfathers, this idea was inseparable from all the local and particular parts of America they cared about. It made every hill and valley of this land sacred. A whole people living up to this idea made America “the land of the free.” This was our country. It still is, though it is currently under enemy occupation. “[Mark Pomerantz Revealed the Madness of the Trump Cases, While Trying to Do the Opposite](” by Chris Bray, Tell Me How This Ends They didn’t start with a suspected crime or with a victim or with a complaint. They started with a target, with someone they wanted to charge with something and then went looking for something to charge him with. No one reported Trump to the police; the DA just felt like investigating him. “[Try a Little Honesty About Israel](” Victor Davis Hanson, The Blade of Perseus Israel has been disproportionate only in the effectiveness of its response. Hamas and its Iranian benefactor intended to disproportionately hurt Israel but utterly failed. So, Israel proved to be competent, and proved Hamas incompetent in its similar efforts to use disproportionate force. “[Columnists and Their Lives of Quiet Desperation](” by Hamilton Nolan, How Things Work Editors can hide their flaws, but columnists are exposed. [Pamela Paul] is often criticized for her tiresome obsession with campus politics and bad-faith gender issues, and she is indeed the sort of sucker who is not even smart enough to know that she is standing in the Land of Bad-Faith Arguments. But I enjoy reading her quite a bit, in the same way that you might derive some malicious joy from watching a bad but rich comedian bomb night after night. She is handcuffed to her job by prestige, and she will not stop writing until her fan base is exclusively made up of idiots. “[Sticks and Stones](” by Christopher Gage, Oxford Sour This censorious culture is sadly inevitable in our narcissistic age. We are all the main character. Such self-absorption means a mere difference of opinion can often feel like a criminal assault. When fenced-off behind screens, ordinary people are thin-skinned despots. “[Why MAGA fears RFK’s candidacy](” Freddy Gray, Spectator World When the Kennedy family starts talking values, the American right instantly smells a rat. There may be plenty of research showing that RFK is likely to take more votes away from Biden than Trump, but conservatives can’t help but notice that the big-picture polls tell a different story.   WORD TO THE WISE "I do not ... pretend to have discovered that life has any thing more to be desired than a prudent and virtuous marriage." — Samuel Johnson (1762) [Blaze Media] © 2024 Blaze Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive emails from Blaze Media. [Privacy Policy]( | [Manage your preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( 8275 S. Eastern Ave, Ste 200-245 Las Vegas, Nevada, 89123, USA