Rev.org: Three Myths About Christians and Divorce (HT: Bradley Wright)
... In fact, it is part of three larger myths that scholars reveal to be dead wrong.
1) Christians divorce as often as non-Christians. According to the General Social Survey, the gold standard of scientific survey data because of its high response rates, 41 percent of Christians who have ever been married have divorced at some point in time. This is compared to 48 percent of non-Christians.* Of course, we’re not going to celebrate the fact that two in five married Christians experience the pain of divorce. At the same time, there is a statistically significant difference between Christians and non-Christians in terms of divorce, and church leaders ought to recognize that.
2) Church attendance makes no difference. Quite the opposite; differences are amplified when we take church attend-ance into consideration. Among weekly churchgoing Christians, the divorce rate drops to 32 percent. Looking at particular traditions, church attendance decreases the likelihood of divorce even more so. Among Catholics who attend weekly, for example, the divorce rate drops to 23 percent.
3) Things are only getting worse. Although the divorce rate has grown a great deal during the last century, the overall divorce rate in this country peaked about 25 years ago. Pundits who suggest that overall divorce rates could jump to as much as 60 percent are not in touch with reality. Instead, a growing number of experts believe the divorce rate could drop as low as 25 percent among certain groups. One likely subpopulation is churchgoing Christians. Several factors may be at work, but chief among them is premarital counseling and marriage preparation courses. These do wonders for helping couples set realistic expectations for married life and for handling challenges as they arise. Among the general population we also see that young people are getting married later in life, and this appears to be lowering overall rates of divorce. ...
1) Christians divorce as often as non-Christians. According to the General Social Survey, the gold standard of scientific survey data because of its high response rates, 41 percent of Christians who have ever been married have divorced at some point in time. This is compared to 48 percent of non-Christians.* Of course, we’re not going to celebrate the fact that two in five married Christians experience the pain of divorce. At the same time, there is a statistically significant difference between Christians and non-Christians in terms of divorce, and church leaders ought to recognize that.
2) Church attendance makes no difference. Quite the opposite; differences are amplified when we take church attend-ance into consideration. Among weekly churchgoing Christians, the divorce rate drops to 32 percent. Looking at particular traditions, church attendance decreases the likelihood of divorce even more so. Among Catholics who attend weekly, for example, the divorce rate drops to 23 percent.
3) Things are only getting worse. Although the divorce rate has grown a great deal during the last century, the overall divorce rate in this country peaked about 25 years ago. Pundits who suggest that overall divorce rates could jump to as much as 60 percent are not in touch with reality. Instead, a growing number of experts believe the divorce rate could drop as low as 25 percent among certain groups. One likely subpopulation is churchgoing Christians. Several factors may be at work, but chief among them is premarital counseling and marriage preparation courses. These do wonders for helping couples set realistic expectations for married life and for handling challenges as they arise. Among the general population we also see that young people are getting married later in life, and this appears to be lowering overall rates of divorce. ...
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