The Real ‘Divergents’: Young Adults Lead Defense of Traditional Marriage

Millennials support God’s plan for family life at events, as well as through outreach and example.
by JONATHAN LIEDL
04/03/2014

From college campuses to city centers, young adults are defying their peers and standing up for the Catholic conception of marriage, through their words and their example, bucking dominant cultural trends.

Michael Bradley is one of the emerging leaders of this “resistance movement.” While many of his fellow students were out celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in a decidedly un-Catholic fashion, the University of Notre Dame senior was leading an event that would make the non-Irish eyes of Ireland’s patron saint smile: a conference devoted to the Catholic understanding of marriage.

The event featured a panel of experts who established the theological, philosophical and political foundations of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, while also exploring the potential consequences of redefining the institution.

“My peers are ill-equipped to respond to the aggressive and radically uncivil rhetoric with which they are faced as supporters of traditional marriage,” said Bradley, referring to the fact that Millennials — those who were born between 1980 and 2000 — have grown up in an era when traditional marriage has already been challenged by sky-rocketing divorce rates and a rise in birth control and cohabitation.

“Even on Notre Dame’s campus, there’s a hesitation to speak very publicly about this. I hope the panel was the first step in really combating that dynamic.” the rest