Why do conservative christians have the highest divorce rates in the nation?

Question

NOTE: BARNA IS A CHRISTIAN RESEARCH ORGANIZATION

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Baptists have the highest divorce rate of any Christian denomination, and are more likely to get a divorce than atheists and agnostics, according to a national survey.

The survey conducted by Barna Research Group in Ventura, Calif., found that 29 percent of all adult Baptists have been through a divorce. Among Christian groups, only those who attend non-denominational Protestant churches were more likely to be divorced, with a 34 percent divorce rate.

Alabama, with a population of 4.3 million, has more than one million Southern Baptists and a majority of evangelical Protestants. The state ranks fourth nationally in divorce rates, behind Nevada, Tennessee and Arkansas, according to U.S. government statistics.

"While it may be alarming to discover that born-again Christians are more likely than others to experience a divorce, that pattern has been in place for quite some time," said George Barna, president of Barna Research Group.

The levels vary among non-Christian groups, Barna reported. Jews have a divorce rate of 30 percent, while atheists and agnostics have a relatively low rate of 21 percent, according to the survey.

http://www.divorcereform.org/mel/rbaptisthigh.html

SERIOUS QUESTION.

CAN ANYBODY ANSWER?

jmills,

The article does mention catholics. I just copied the most interesting parts of it.

"Of major Christian denominations, Catholics and Lutherans have the lowest
divorce rate at 21 percent, according to Barna. People who attend
mainstream Protestant churches have an overall divorce rate of 25
percent. "
http://www.divorcereform.org/mel/rbaptisthigh.html

Answer 1

Funny, I have not found 1 link to support your claim....here are the real reasons for divorce......nice try though..

By now almost everyone has heard that the national divorce rate is close to 50% of all marriages. This is true, but the rate must be interpreted with caution and several important caveats. For many people, the actual chances of divorce are far below 50/50.

The background characteristics of people entering a marriage have major implications for their risk of divorce. Here are some percentage point decreases in the risk of divorce or separation during the first ten years of marriage, according to various personal and social factors: [a]
Factors

Percent Decrease

in Risk of Divorce
Annual income over $50,000 (vs. under $25,000) -30
Having a baby seven months or more after marriage (vs. before marriage) -24
Marrying over 25 years of age (vs. under 18) -24
Own family of origin intact (vs. divorced parents) -14
Religious affiliation (vs. none) -14
Some college (vs. high-school dropout) -13



So if you are a reasonably well-educated person with a decent income, come from an intact family and are religious, and marry after age twentyfive without having a baby first, your chances of divorce are very low indeed.

Also, it should be realized that the "close to 50%" divorce rate refers to the percentage of marriages entered into during a particular year that are projected to end in divorce or separation before one spouse dies. Such projections assume that the divorce and death rates occurring that year will continue indefinitely into the future-an assumption that is useful more as an indicator of the instability of marriages in the recent past than as a predictor of future events. In fact, the divorce rate has been dropping, slowly, since reaching a peak around 1980, and the rate could belower (or higher) in the future than it is today.

Answer 2

Has anyone noticed this world is growing increasingly worst daily as a people we tend to argue when what we do may be displeasing to others,The only person we should try to please is God,out of ignorance people strike out in a negative way when they don't fully understand something,yes divorce is at an alarmingly high level but homosexuality is a sin should we attack these people no because they are people also but using the right tone with the right words some not all,but some will come to understand that everything God does is right and not to be argued and He made man to please woman and woman to please a man He placed Adam and Eve on this earth to produce and multiply so who are we to argue His word you will not win fighting against God.

Answer 3

I don't know if what you say is true or not, but it does nothing to hinder my faith. Faith is not about politics. God don't care what political party you support. I mean as long as it is within what the bible commands. There will be democrats in heaven too!

Answer 4

this is so interesting.

Answer 5

Okay, this is a serious answer--I am a sociologist/historian.

I see three reasons--though they are interrelated.

First, conservaive Christian ideology has a strong patriarchical toe. In practice this means that women's opportunities in life generally are circumscribed. Many women chafe at this--which creates strins that men in this subculure are often not willling to acknowledge and respect. The result is that one or the other partner may decide to leave the relationship.

Second (and there is no helping the critical tone here)--among some (NOT ALL) groups, while subordination of women is emphasized , ccorresponding responsibility among the men is not. There is a strong statistical pattern here: upon reaching the early 40s, men often abandon their families--and neither the law nor these churches do much to discourage them. Further, the legal situation under currentlaw is such that the man ususally stands to reap economic gains by leaving.

Third: the rate of domestic child, spousal, and sexual abuse is higher among conservative Christians than in the genral population. This is partly the result of a lack of accountability wher e men are concerned, but also tothe open endorsement of severe corporal punishment of not only children, but (covertly) of women as well. NOTE--I am not talking about miled spankings and such--contrary to popular mythology, such mild physical sanctions do not correlate with later problems for children--but severe physical abuse does.

Addition--make that five reasons:

>the "double standard" is most prominant among this particular subculture. It plays out this way: adult males are expeted to adhere (and mostly do) to the sexual norms of the group under most circumstances. But there is what I'llcall te "Saturday night honky-tonk syndrome." When in a looser, and male-orientedsocial setting away from family (a business trip, or literally a Saturday night out "with the boys") the double standard takes over--indeed it is almost what George Orwell called "double think." Sexual infidelity is accepted under these conditions--for men,not women. The usual justification is "the woman tempted me"--hene the excessively aggressive stigmatizingof "loose women"--particularly prostitutes. We've seen some rather spectacular examples of this in the news lately with some of the leading members of the conservative Christians.

Finally--in a minority (NOT MOST) of ostensibly conservative congregations, the males in leadership positions capitalize on their authority and the subordination of women to engage in a variety of more extreme sexulal deviance--wife swapping, having what amounts to a harem, and pedophilia. This, based on cases that have come to light, to involve a disproportionate level of homosexuality-and there are theoretical reasons that support this. But I don't know of any studies tha tconfirm this with solid quantative data and analysis.

Answer 6

Where in that article does it say anything about CONSERVATIVE Christians?
From my understanding, the reason the church split, all those hundreds of years ago, was because Henry VIII wanted a divorce and the church wouldn't let him.
Check it out, funny the article doesn't say anything about Catholics, just Protestants, Baptists, Jews, and Atheists.

Answer 7

Because they are incapable of practicing what they preach. I thought gay marriage was supposed to destroy families in this country, but it turned out the holy rollers did it already.

Answer 8

It is, in my opinion, that christians, while most are stable, have their differences. ive known a lot of people that are christians that have problems. probably cause of spiritual inner-conflict (the way people feel) as well as beliefes about certain aspects of christianity. they even say pastor's lids are troublemakers. well thanks

Answer 9

You make a good point.

Here's one point on the other side, though--Christians are following through on the idea of marriage, whereas non-believers (i.e. non-religious) don't see the need to get married, they just live together without marriage, hence, no divorce.

But the point is well taken--if there's going to be so much made of gay marriage and things like that, Christians ought to be able to take care of their own house and maintain their own marriages.

I absolutely agree with that.

We run off to Washington to defend our "Christian nation," and the door is left wide open for the devil to go running in and destroy our home lives.

I don't agree with the Religious Right. Christians have to set an example, and we do that first by taking care of our own marriages--as men, learning how to love our wives as Christ loved the church, sacrificing for her, etc. (Ephesians 5)

Edit...Wow...thumbs down...conservatives not believing in marriage? I thought that was one of their cornerstone principles...It certainly is a cornerstone of Christian and church life.

Answer 10

boy, this is old news. This must make them all devil heathens and liberals are the best thing on earth! ......not