16 Oct 2025
Conservative commentators often promote marriage as a risk-free solution for men's romantic problems, downplaying substantial financial and emotional risks while manipulating divorce statistics and exaggerating the protective role of religion. The reality reveals a corrupt divorce system and significant personal hazards, necessitating a well-informed approach for men contemplating matrimony.
Fake conservative traditionalists ('TrdCons') advocate for immediate marriage, assuring men that finding a religious girl and marrying quickly will solve romantic problems, with risks being negligible. They claim married men are richer, happier, and healthier, promoting marriage as always awesome and suggesting women's past behaviors are absolved by God.
Influencers from platforms like the Daily Wire instruct young men to find a woman, fall in love, marry, and have more children than they can afford, or simply 'grow up and get married.' They assert that typical marriage ages (28 for men, 26 for women) are too late and emphasize nurture and provider roles within a family.
Fake TrdCons claim that divorce rates are dropping, and adherence to religion almost completely eliminates divorce risk, implying that becoming religious and marrying a religious woman serves as a 'silver bullet' against marital failure.
The reality for men is drastically different, marked by numerous horror stories describing corrupt divorce courts that devastate finances and tear families apart. These experiences often impact religious men, some even attending the same churches as prominent marriage advocates like Michael Knowles.
Conservative commentators mislead men about marriage for two main reasons: first, to avoid alienating their female audience by not advocating for divorce reform, which would expose institutional sexism and female exploitation of the system; second, to exploit the current divorce system to market religion as a solution.
Conservatives gloss over marriage risks by highlighting a declining divorce rate, citing estimates between 40-45% from reliable sources like the APA and CDC, down from a 55% peak. This perceived decline, however, is primarily due to a halved marriage rate and skyrocketing cohabitation since 1980.
Pro-marriage activists and conservative commentators use selective data and 'creative accounting' to falsely claim divorce rates as low as 25-35%. They present a 25-35% chance of life ruin and financial destruction as an 'acceptable risk' for men, which is worse than a round of Russian roulette.
The most reliable estimates for the modern divorce rate are between 40% and 45% of all marriages failing, with an average marriage length of approximately 8 years. This is not a significant reduction from the perceived 50/50 coin toss and hardly aligns with 'till death do us part'.
Conservative commentators widely disseminate statistics from amateur historian Megan Cooper, which inaccurately suggested very low divorce rates for various religious groups (e.g., Catholics 19%, Muslims 8%) and a miscalculated high rate for mainstream Protestants (51%). These numbers became top Google search results and were referenced by AI.
Cooper's data represents a 'snapshot' of divorced individuals, not lifetime divorce rates, and fails to account for remarriages. Crucially, it either omits or inflates the atheist divorce rate (originally 2%, inflated to 11% by law firms), which contradicts the claim that religion intrinsically reduces risk.
Correcting Cooper's math using the same Pew data reveals substantially different lifetime divorce rates: No Religion (48%), Evangelicals (46%), Mainstream Protestants (42%), Historically Black Protestants (54%), Catholics (35%), Orthodox (33%), Jews (33%), Muslims (24%), and Hindus (15%).
For most Christian denominations and Judaism, lifetime divorce odds range between 1 in 3 and 1 in 2, indicating minimal risk reduction. Lower rates for Islam and Hinduism are often attributed to external factors such as the subordination of women in Islamic Hadith and arranged marriages in Hindu cultures, rather than purely religious devotion.
Claims by the Institute for Family Studies, citing a Harvard study, suggest that consistent church attendance (more than once a week) correlates with a 50% reduction in divorce likelihood (42% overall for 'super devout' Christians). This translates to a 32% risk reduction for Protestants and 54% for Catholics who attend church multiple times weekly.
Even among the 'super devout,' 28% of Protestants and 16% of Catholics still experience divorce. Only 12% of both Catholics and Protestants attend church more than once weekly, with most being middle-aged or older, meaning the pool of available 'super devout' partners for young men is extremely small.
Super devout women do not guarantee ideal partners; some may become tyrannical, controlling, stingy with sex, or hypocritical, leading to toxic, appearance-driven marriages where problems are kept secret.
While the US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates married men earn 10-20% more, this is largely due to the increased financial burden of materially satisfying a wife's 'nesting habits' and social status desires (e.g., luxury brands, multiple vacations), which can quadruple a man's household expenditures, unlike single men content with essentials.
The General Social Survey (2022) indicated 33% more married men were 'very happy,' and a 2019 study showed 47% less depression. However, the 40-45% of married men who divorce see their depression rates skyrocket by 312%, far surpassing single men's rates. Single men who take good care of themselves live as long as married men.
Michael Knowles discourages prenups, claiming they violate the sacrament of marriage and advocating for men to accept full legal vulnerability. Other conservative commentators, however, recognize prenups as a valid risk mitigation tool, with only 12% being overturned in court, offering men a 1-in-8 chance of financial obliteration.
Only 15% of spouses across the United States get prenups, and 67% of women are hostile to the idea. Insisting on a prenup could severely constrict a man's dating pool, making it difficult to find a woman who acknowledges the corruption of divorce courts.
Roughly two-thirds of men are currently turned off by dating, finding the 'juice not worth the squeeze,' and will not re-engage without meaningful divorce court reform and/or a greater proportion of women becoming 'wife material' worthy of the risk.
If 'Fake TrdCons' were genuinely concerned for men's marital happiness, they would prioritize divorce court reform as a national issue, recognizing its impact on plummeting fertility rates.
The dating situation will likely continue to deteriorate until young women recognize that their own interests are being harmed by neglecting traits, qualities, and outlooks that men seek in partners, given the epidemic levels of involuntary singleness and childlessness among Western women.
The author refutes being a 'blackpill doomer,' aiming to provide men with well-informed perspectives on marriage risks, free from self-serving agendas. He advises men to be fully informed: pursue marriage with a loyal, 'ride or die' woman (considering a prenup) if the risk is deemed worth it, or embrace a single life, dating, or partying if that path brings satisfaction and peace.
The truth is there is no silver bullet that would cure men's justifiable marriage hesitancy.
| Aspect | ConservativeClaim | RealityCritique |
|---|---|---|
| Marriage Recommendation | Get married ASAP; don't worry about risks; it'll be fine. | Vast horror stories from men in corrupt divorce courts; marriage often leads to financial/emotional ruin. |
| Motivation for Advice | Concerned for men's romantic happiness and societal well-being. | Twofold: Avoid alienating female audience (by not calling for divorce reform), and sell religion as a solution. |
| Divorce Rate | Declining to 25-35%; substantially reduced risk. | Most reliable estimates are 40-45%; decline due to lower marriage rates and increased cohabitation, not reduced risk. |
| Religiosity & Divorce Risk | Being religious and marrying a religious girl substantially reduces divorce chances. | Infrequently 'super devout' attendance offers some reduction but 16-28% still divorce. Corrected lifetime rates show minimal reduction for most Christians; lower rates for other religions have external factors (e.g., subordination of women, arranged marriages). |
| Male Financial Benefits | Married men are richer (earn 10-20% more). | Higher earnings are largely due to increased financial burden of satisfying a wife's material demands, potentially quadrupling household expenses. |
| Male Happiness/Health | Married men are happier and healthier; less depression. | While some are happy, 40-45% who divorce see depression rates skyrocket by 312%, far exceeding single men. Self-caring single men live as long as married men. |
| Prenuptial Agreements (Prenups) | Violates the sacrament of marriage (Michael Knowles); unnecessary. | Risk mitigation tool with only 12% being overturned; however, 67% of women are hostile to prenups, limiting options for men. |
| Solution for Men | Embrace traditional marriage; find a religious woman. | No 'silver bullet'; men need divorce court reform and women adapting to be 'wife material'; individual choice is key for personal satisfaction. |
