The Ideologies That Destroy Marriages

A wife keeps a separate bank account her husband cannot touch. A husband spends weekends at the gym while she manages the children. Both claim they are being fair. Both are following ideologies that treat marriage as a contract between competitors instead of a covenant between partners.In this episode, I examine the modern belief systems that have turned marriage from a partnership into a power struggle. Radical individualism teaches spouses to prioritize personal fulfillment over family commitment. Consumer culture teaches that if your partner does not satisfy you, you can trade them in for a newer model. Therapeutic culture teaches that all problems are caused by your partner's failure to meet your needs. The result is a generation of spouses who have been trained to keep score instead of share a life.The data is stark. Marriage rates are at a sixty-year low. Divorce rates among millennials are climbing after a decade of decline. Cohabitating couples break up at three times the rate of married couples. The problem is not commitment. The problem is that people have stopped believing in commitment.Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the ideologies that destroy marriages are not out there. They are in your head.