[1]: ‘Baptists have a higher divorce rate than atheists and Jews, but they blame gays for the destruction of the family. Why dedicate your life to Christ when you can’t even dedicate it to your spouse?
One response
[2] Let’s look at the numbers.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm
Denomination % being divorced
Non-denominational (small conservative groups; independents) 34%
Baptists 29%
Mainline Protestants 25%
Mormons 24%
Catholics 21%
Lutherans 21%
Religion % being divorced
Jews 30%
Born-again Christians 27%
Other Christians 24%
Atheists, Agnostics 21%
It should be first noted that these numbers came from a study by the Barna Research Group, which was done in 1999 (or about “near” a decade ago).
Secondly, it should be noted that there was an introduction on the website, which stated the following: “There is consensus that the overall U.S. divorce rate had a brief spurt after WW2, followed by a decline, then started rising in the 1960s and even more quickly in the 1970s, then leveled off [in the] 1980s and [has since] declined slightly.” So, the overall divorce rate has declined, which we, as members of the entire human race, should reflect upon as a positive sign.
It should also be noted that the divorce rate of all the groups listed was significantly less than 50%, and even if we take the highest figure, or 34%, and applied it across the board, it would mean that the divorce rate, for all groups of theological bent, is still only about a third. In other words, only 1 marriage out of 3 (from all the groups listed)
actually ends up in divorce.
You see these numbers as some “dark indictment” against Baptists and Christians, whereas I see those same numbers as a cause for celebration, and even some well-deserved praise.
July 2007
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