Improving the odds

I think there would be rather widespread agreement with the comments of F. Wescott (Letters, August 18) when he is critical of those opponents of same-sex marriage because of their religious views. The religious argument constantly brought forward is that God has ordained that marriage should be between a man and a woman. This assumes we do know what the will of God actually is. However, quite apart from theological wrangling, it would be well to have a reality check. It appears that out of every 10 marriages, five end in divorce, two drag on in misery and three are successful. If marriage between heterosexuals is God-inspired, it cannot really be seen as any great success. Perhaps extending the range of marriage as the same-sex advocates want might improve the average. It couldn’t do much worse. Harry Stanton,

Sandy Bay Matthew 5:14 GPO Box 334, Hobart, Tas 7001

mercuryedletter@themercury.com.au

(03) 6230 0711

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