Before the 1960s, it was really hard to get divorced in America.
Typically, the only way to do it was to convince a judge that your spouse had committed some form of wrongdoing, like adultery, abandonment, or ācrueltyā (that is, abuse). This could be difficult: āEven if you could prove you had been hit, that didnāt necessarily mean it rose to the level of cruelty that justified a divorce,ā saidĀ Marcia Zug, a family law professor at the University of South Carolina.
Then came a revolution: In 1969, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan of California (who was himself divorced) signedĀ the nationās first no-fault divorce law, allowing people to end their marriages without proving theyād been wronged. The move was a recognition that āpeople were going to get out of marriages,ā Zug said, and gave them a way to do that withoutĀ resorting to subterfuge. Similar laws soon swept the country, and rates ofĀ domestic violence and spousal murderĀ began to drop as people ā especially women ā gained more freedom to leave dangerous situations.
Today, however, a counter-revolution is brewing:Ā Conservative commentatorsĀ andĀ lawmakersĀ are calling for an end to no-fault divorce, arguing that it has harmed men and even destroyed the fabric of society. Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers, for example,Ā introduced a billĀ in January to ban his stateās version of no-fault divorce. The Texas Republican Party added a call to end the practice to itsĀ 2022 platformĀ (the plank is preserved inĀ the 2024 version). Federal lawmakers like Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) andĀ House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as former Housing and Urban Development SecretaryĀ Ben Carson, have spoken out in favor of tightening divorce laws.
I sure am feeling like a rambling old man today.
By the time the oldest kids become parents theyāre already tired of being parents because mom and dad canāt possibly keep up with a dozen kids and sure arenāt paying nannies and babysitters.
By the time a couple generations go by, thereās no more help. They still get government assistance if they donāt get out but grandma and great-grandma still have school aged kids and arenāt helping (letās face it, pappy aināt doing it).
So who the fuck is taking care of these hundred and change kids? Itās only good for a surge unless you have multiple wives (again, you know the guys arenāt doing it), which is not happening at a rate that makes a difference, although that happens a little bit. So by that third generation youāve got a fuck-ton of kids who definitely think itās bullshit.
I grew up in a semi-related cult and saw that happen in real time. The one I grew up in wasnāt the āsuper familyā welfare abuse type but did preach to have as many as you could handle while still being able to afford them. I personally know the people youāre talking about and theyāre super literalists, young earth creationists, and dispensationalists who hand wave millennialism with āa day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a dayā. Some of them believe that the war in heaven started the day the Jewish people went back to Israel and that the horsemen of the apocalypse are already here. Some referred to covid as either Plague or Death until they decided it was fake. Theyāre sure that every event is the harbinger of the rapture.
Hearing these people talk is fucking wild. I know theyāre a minority, but if you go into some of the more insular rural communities youāll meet them and they are fucking serious. They donāt understand why you and all of their kids canāt just see whatās happening.
I lived an hour away from a āchurchā that did shit like snake handling. They did not talk about their sect to strangers and were generally very wary of anyone not in their cult. Very strange people. Sorry you had to live through that.
I guess they talked to us because we were the ālightā version of their church. I donāt really know how theyād treat a real outsider I guess. They always tried getting us to come to church stuff with them.
It was normal to me. My parents werenāt bad people and they didnāt make me raise my younger siblings. I didnāt get abused like a lot of the kids around me. I put up with some bullshit, but we all do to some extent.
I appreciate it, though.
Yeah lived in Appalachia, if you drove 1 or so hours out of the city, into the mountains you could find some wild shit.