By John M. Grondelski, The Catholic Thing - Our media are intermittently stirred up over the decline of marriage in American society. Many factors play into that phenomenon: confusion over the very definition of “marriage” and its substitution by ersatz stand-ins; economic insecurity that deters young people, especially young men, from entering adult life; a split between “adult” and “professional” life, in which there are gender differences; differing and often unrealistic expectations of marriage; the decline of religious commitment, expressed in religious marriage with a co-religionist, etc. ....