Marriage Is Not a Panacea

One of the recurring themes of social conservatives in the current gay marriage debate is that marriage itself is the best thing in the world - regardless of the reality of a person's actual relationship to his or her spouse. Not only is it the foundation of civilization, but you can never be truly happy if you're not a part of it (so let's deny it to homosexuals, right? Alas, I digress . . .). A new study concludes that, at least in terms of women's health, no marriage at all is better than being stuck in a miserable marriage.

That's probably just common sense to most people, but since when do the social conservatives deal in common sense?