[lotharbot]

> "is it your assertion that our drastically changed social environment has had no effect on the stability of relationships?"

I have already said explicitly that it is not. Please don't be obtuse.

> "there are many factors that can help predict the success of a marriage. This is somewhat besides the point."

No; it's exactly the point. Your initial comment used misleading statistics to argue that marriage is a "plague" that should be avoided, and you later hinted that my grandfather would have been a victim of this plague if my grandparents had lived in a different era.

I've countered that those statistics don't apply to every situation, and that in fact marriage remains quite a worthwhile pursuit especially for those whose circumstances and life choices put them in the "very high probability of success" category. My grandparents, my parents, and my wife and I are all in this category.

Repeating your assertion that current marriages lead "towards a statistically likely devastating outcome" is useless. The assertion, while true for many couples, ignores the reality that some couples are statistically likely to enjoy the benefits of marriage for their entire lives.