I’m sure you’ve heard that Christians have the same divorce rate as non-Christians. I’ve long suspected that this is a myth driven by a poor definition of “Christian.” Many people are only nominal Christians; i.e. while they profess to be a Christian, there is little evidence from their conduct and beliefs that they are.
It seems my suspicions are correct. The Pew Forum released a summary of recent reassessments of the data that found a strong correlation between church attendance and divorce rates. Brian Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, concluded that “Americans who attend religious services several times a month were about 35 percent less likely to divorce than those with no religious affiliation.”
March 18, 2011 at 8:48 am
Good to hear – I also thought it seemed strange that christians’ divorce rates were as high as non-christians.
Would be interesting to see the percentage of all religions though.
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March 20, 2011 at 5:42 am
I thought that the divorce rate is highest in the Bible Belt?
Maybe Christian parents shouldn’t encourage their non-church-attending children to get married to avoid premarital sex, or to get married due to an accidental pregnancy?
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March 21, 2011 at 6:34 am
Thanks for this Jason. I thought there was something skewed about this information.
Arthur – Never heard the Bible Belt comment.
I dont even know what to say to your second statement. Ludicrous? I dont know anyone who is making their kids get married in the event of accidental preganancy.
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March 21, 2011 at 11:51 am
Arthur,
I would doubt that to be true, but I would be interested in seeing any data you could muster up.
I agree with Tiny, that hasn’t been my experience with conservative Christians. While I’m sure there are some, I’m dealing with parents who are pushing their children not to get married until they are older, and if they get pregnant, often advising them against marriage to the father/mother on the grounds that two wrongs don’t make a right.
Jason
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