I . . . Do?: Why Marriage Still Matters

by Andrea Mrozek, Peter Jon Mitchell

Overview

For many today, marriage is a nice thing, but not necessary. I . . . Do? is a book to help you reconsider the central importance of marriage, not simply for the couples involved, but for all of us. Plenty of research suggests that a good marriage encourages health, wellness, and happiness and that the goodness of marriage extends into our communities. To this, the retort comes quickly--well that's the result of a good marriage. Yet instead of nurturing good marriages, we are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Marriage is not the solution to every problem. It remains, however, an ideal to which we can aspire. This book connects the dots between statistics, public policy problems, and people's experiences. A better understanding of the attributes of marriage allows each one of us to invest deeper meaning into our relationships as well as enhancing and creating stronger communities. The authors equip readers with the language and logic of marriage, using secular research. By imagining that marriage still matters, we can learn to properly support and nurture marriage, for the good of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781666788549
Publisher:	Cascade Books
Publication date:	11/11/2024
Pages:	136
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

Andrea Mrozek has worked in journalism and think tanks in Europe and Canada. She writes and speaks about marriage, childcare, and women’s issues. Prior to joining think tank Cardus, she was executive director of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada.



Peter Jon Mitchell is program director of Cardus Family. He has been researching and writing about Canadian families and public policy for nearly two decades.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“I . . . Do? combines timely insights regarding the contemporary value of our most important institution with a compelling call to revive its fortunes.”

—Brad Wilcox, director, National Marriage Project, University of Virginia



“My Cardus colleagues convincingly show that marriage matters—even for those who are not married or consider marriage a relic of a bygone religious age.”

—Raymond J. de Souza, senior fellow, Cardus



“This book’s most important contribution reminds us that marriage can be a shelter from life’s inevitable storms and also a marvelous partnership with sublime joy on the journey between life’s valleys and peaks.”

—Mark Milke, president, Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy



“In this scrupulously objective, gently polemical treatment of their subject, Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell defend the importance of marriage against its myriad challenges, promoting its benefits with tact, thoughtfulness, and sincerity.”

—Barbara Kay, opinion columnist, National Post





———FRONT MATTER——



“The temptation today is to see marriage as a private affair that matters only for the two adults involved, but in this powerful new book, Mrozek and Mitchell show all the ways in which marriage is also a public good whose health matters not just for men and women but also for children and the wider community. I . . . Do? combines timely insights regarding the contemporary value of our most important institution with a compelling call to revive its fortunes.”

—Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology, and director, National Marriage Project, University of Virginia



“My Cardus colleagues convincingly show that marriage matters – even for those who are not married or consider marriage a relic of a bygone religious age. The social science data prove that everything we care about gets better when marriages are healthy. The wisdom of the ages is vindicated here by able scholars who rely on research, not revelation, to make their case.”

—Raymond J. de Souza, contributor, National Post, and senior fellow, Cardus



“There is plenty of social-scientific data to make the case for marriage. From Daniel Patrick Moynahan to Thomas Sowell and on to Charles Murray, all showed what happens when families fracture en masse—​entire neighborhoods and even nations come apart. Beyond that data—also in I . . . Do?—this book's most important contribution reminds us that marriage can be a shelter from life’s inevitable storms and also a marvelous partnership with sublime joy on the journey between life's valleys and peaks.”

—Mark Milke, president, The Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy



“We know that marriage, for millennia an unassailable cultural norm, is good for individuals and for society, yet within decades it has become an institution in serious decline. We are in the midst of an existential social crisis that has not been acknowledged or addressed in Canada’s public forum. In this scrupulously objective, gently polemical treatment of their subject, Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell defend the importance of marriage against its myriad challenges, promoting its benefits with tact, thoughtfulness, and sincerity.”

—Barbara Kay, opinion columnist, National Post



“Marriage is not simply a ‘lifestyle choice’ or a useful social engineering tool. It is a primordial institution that speaks to our deepest needs, which is why it also does matter so much to happy individuals and happy societies. In this book, Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell provide a calm, balanced and thoughtful introduction to its nature, meaning and lasting importance.”

—John Robson, executive director, Climate Discussion Nexus



“Who cares about marriage? Just a few decades ago, it was the norm that if you had kids you were married. Today marriage, for many, has become nice but unnecessary. Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell expertly lay out the case for why marriage influences almost every social outcome that you might care to mention. Read this and find out why all of us should care about marriage.”

—Harry Benson, research director, Marriage Foundation, United Kingdom



“What might a healthy marriage culture look like in a post-Christian society? A much-needed reassessment of the fruits of the sexual revolution has finally begun, and with it, a revaluation of the place and importance marriage in society. I . . . Do? by Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell is an essential addition to a growing genre that includes recent books such as The Case Against the Sexual Revolution by Louise Perry, Feminism Against Progress by Mary Harrington, The Rights of Women by Erika Bachiochi, and Get Married by Brad Wilcox. With sociological data, personal anecdotes, and policy prescriptions, Mrozek and Mitchell make a compelling, non-religious and must-read pitch.”

—Jonathon Van Maren, author of The Culture War



“If institutions are social technologies that enable humans to thrive, then marriage is something like a vaccine: not strictly necessary for personal or social survival, but extremely helpful at the individual level and critical at the collective level. In this thoughtful, authoritative survey of recent developments, debates, and research about modern marriage, Mrozek and Mitchell demonstrate how all of us - young or old, religious or secular, gay or straight, married or not - benefit from a culture with matrimony at its center.”

—Kelden Formosa, teacher, and contributor, The Hub

Editorial Reviews

I . . . Do? combines timely insights regarding the contemporary value of our most important institution with a compelling call to revive its fortunes.”

—Brad Wilcox, director, National Marriage Project, University of Virginia



“My Cardus colleagues convincingly show that marriage matters—even for those who are not married or consider marriage a relic of a bygone religious age.”

—Raymond J. de Souza, senior fellow, Cardus



“This book’s most important contribution reminds us that marriage can be a shelter from life’s inevitable storms and also a marvelous partnership with sublime joy on the journey between life’s valleys and peaks.”

—Mark Milke, president, Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy



“In this scrupulously objective, gently polemical treatment of their subject, Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell defend the importance of marriage against its myriad challenges, promoting its benefits with tact, thoughtfulness, and sincerity.”

—Barbara Kay, opinion columnist, National Post





———FRONT MATTER——



“The temptation today is to see marriage as a private affair that matters only for the two adults involved, but in this powerful new book, Mrozek and Mitchell show all the ways in which marriage is also a public good whose health matters not just for men and women but also for children and the wider community. I . . . Do? combines timely insights regarding the contemporary value of our most important institution with a compelling call to revive its fortunes.”

—Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology, and director, National Marriage Project, University of Virginia



“My Cardus colleagues convincingly show that marriage matters – even for those who are not married or consider marriage a relic of a bygone religious age. The social science data prove that everything we care about gets better when marriages are healthy. The wisdom of the ages is vindicated here by able scholars who rely on research, not revelation, to make their case.”

—Raymond J. de Souza, contributor, National Post, and senior fellow, Cardus



“There is plenty of social-scientific data to make the case for marriage. From Daniel Patrick Moynahan to Thomas Sowell and on to Charles Murray, all showed what happens when families fracture en masse—​entire neighborhoods and even nations come apart. Beyond that data—also in I . . . Do?—this book's most important contribution reminds us that marriage can be a shelter from life’s inevitable storms and also a marvelous partnership with sublime joy on the journey between life's valleys and peaks.”

—Mark Milke, president, The Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy



“We know that marriage, for millennia an unassailable cultural norm, is good for individuals and for society, yet within decades it has become an institution in serious decline. We are in the midst of an existential social crisis that has not been acknowledged or addressed in Canada’s public forum. In this scrupulously objective, gently polemical treatment of their subject, Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell defend the importance of marriage against its myriad challenges, promoting its benefits with tact, thoughtfulness, and sincerity.”

—Barbara Kay, opinion columnist, National Post



“Marriage is not simply a ‘lifestyle choice’ or a useful social engineering tool. It is a primordial institution that speaks to our deepest needs, which is why it also does matter so much to happy individuals and happy societies. In this book, Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell provide a calm, balanced and thoughtful introduction to its nature, meaning and lasting importance.”

—John Robson, executive director, Climate Discussion Nexus



“Who cares about marriage? Just a few decades ago, it was the norm that if you had kids you were married. Today marriage, for many, has become nice but unnecessary. Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell expertly lay out the case for why marriage influences almost every social outcome that you might care to mention. Read this and find out why all of us should care about marriage.”

—Harry Benson, research director, Marriage Foundation, United Kingdom



“What might a healthy marriage culture look like in a post-Christian society? A much-needed reassessment of the fruits of the sexual revolution has finally begun, and with it, a revaluation of the place and importance marriage in society. I . . . Do? by Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell is an essential addition to a growing genre that includes recent books such as The Case Against the Sexual Revolution by Louise Perry, Feminism Against Progress by Mary Harrington, The Rights of Women by Erika Bachiochi, and Get Married by Brad Wilcox. With sociological data, personal anecdotes, and policy prescriptions, Mrozek and Mitchell make a compelling, non-religious and must-read pitch.”

—Jonathon Van Maren, author of The Culture War



“If institutions are social technologies that enable humans to thrive, then marriage is something like a vaccine: not strictly necessary for personal or social survival, but extremely helpful at the individual level and critical at the collective level. In this thoughtful, authoritative survey of recent developments, debates, and research about modern marriage, Mrozek and Mitchell demonstrate how all of us - young or old, religious or secular, gay or straight, married or not - benefit from a culture with matrimony at its center.”

—Kelden Formosa, teacher, and contributor, The Hub

From the Publisher