While some conservatives have shown superhuman patience — witness Ross Douthat’s first of several very forbearing blog posts on this topic earlier this week — at some point someone has to say that the sky is blue and the Earth is round. To question whether the Sexual Revolution has had something to do with the decline of marriage is like wondering whether the French Revolution had anything to do with regicide.

Given that the family held up comparatively well during the Great Depression, and that today’s lower class, while not doing great, is wealthy beyond the dreams of most people in the 18th century, to suggest that the biggest cultural trend in the 20th century has not affected marriage is prima facie absurd.

At some point, you start to feel like the poor man in Monty Python’s “Dead Parrot Sketch” trying to convey his meaning. A change in how people approach sex, relationships, and family has changed how people approach sex, relationships, and family. After all, it’s called the “Sexual Revolution,” not the “Sexual Fad That Didn’t Affect How People Live.” That’s what it means. That’s what it is.