Along the lines of your tangent: an acquaintance of mine who is an atheist is raising her children Catholic(?!?) My impression from our (very limited) conversations about it is that she wants her kids to fit in socially with "society." I think (hope) that we are seeing, as you say, this mentality slowly going out the door. I think that as the current generation of kids grows up, they're going to hold their parents to account for these sorts of decisions moreso than in the past. Thanks for the comment!

Brent - I've missed talking to you.
I'm not sure what ultimate question you mean. Many relationships do not force participants to do anything. The relationships themselves are voluntary and a participant may choose to leave the relationship if they wish. If two people in a voluntary relationship wish to seek third party intervention in a dispute, they are within their "rights" to do so. I object to a third party unilaterally intervening in voluntary relationships. I also object to one party applying to the state for coersive "services" against another party. The bleak history of marriage has abounded in third parties claiming higher standards of justice and siding nearly universally with men in their domination of women--usually without the consent of the women, of course.