Demagogue

National Review's Stanley Kurtz reviews God on the Quad, a book in which author Naomi Schaefer Riley examines social and sexual behavior on the campuses of several religious colleges -- Bob Jones, Brigham Young, Thomas Aquinas, Baylor and others. Kurtz writes:

" ... each school is channeling its students' desire for sex into the quest for marriage ... as Riley shows, the sexual pressures experienced by students at secular schools are transformed at religious colleges into the pressure to find a spouse. Religious students who come to these colleges from secular high schools are shocked and excited by all-of-the-sudden being surrounded by attractive and eligible mates ... So at every religious college Riley visited, the mantra was, "Ring by Spring" (i.e. get engaged by spring of senior year). There's a rash of weddings after every graduation.

Is marriage a wise place to channel sexual desires? Marriage may have different consequences than sex, but it too has consequences.

It's hard to generalize about the "right" age for marriage -- maturity levels vary for all college students. But I think most college students know relatively little about themselves, about what they need (emotionally, sexually and romantically) and, therefore, are not yet in the best position to choose a good mate.

It's interesting to note that divorce rates in "red states" are higher than those in "blue states." Several years ago, the group Focus on the Family acknowledged, "The American Southeast is loaded with churches, and flush with conservative values, but for some reason, overflowing with divorce."

Is it possible that more religious areas of the country (i.e., the red states) have higher divorce rates partly because adults in these areas tend to marry at a younger age? I couldn't find any recent data, but that same Focus on the Family article from five years ago suggests that channeling sexual interest into marital interest may contribute to higher divorce rates:

Sociologists attribute the Bible Belt's high divorce rate to lower household incomes in the South and couples marrying at younger ages.

I haven't read Riley's book -- only Kurtz's review. But I'm curious whether Riley takes any time from her "clearly sympathetic" portrayal (Kurtz's words) of these religious colleges to consider the unhappy marriages that have been created by this kind of "channeling."