Rise in Divorce Rates

For my third and final blog post I decided to talk about my powerpoint project and the topic of Divorce. This topic relates to a lot of what we have been talking about throughout the entire semester. We have been discussing how religion has become less and less important to our society and how it is viewed differently now than it was in the past. Divorce falls into the same category. From my research, I discovered that divorce was unheard of 100 years ago and it was something that hardly anyone ever did. During this time period religion played an important role in people's lives. In one article titled, "Catholic Conceptions of Faith: A Generational Analysis" the author discusses how children during this time grew up being taught that the Catholic Church was the "one true church".

These children were raised in Catholic schools with priests and nuns who taught them by the bible. The bible states, . Divorce is prohibited if the husband accuses his wife of not being a virgin (Deuteronomy 22: 13-15), Divorce is treacherous behavior (Melachi 2:14), God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). As well as, Separation is allowed but not divorce (Matthew 19:9), and No divorce on any grounds (Luke 16:18). Which is why the divorce rates were so low during that time.

Now, divorce rates are the highest ever and one study shows that 50% of marriages will end in divorce. "One of the reasons why the material dimension of American religious life is not taken seriously is because of how we describe the nature of religion. A dichotomy has been established between the sacred and the profane, spirit and matter, piety and commerce that constrains our ability to understand how religion works in the real world" (McDannell). A lot of the reasons for the rise in divorce rates is because of the lack of religious values. Our society has stopped putting such an emphasis on religion and religious values.


Works Cited

McDannell, Colleen. Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.

Robinson, B. "Divorce and Remarriage." Religious Tolerance. 5 Feb. 2006. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 7 Apr. 2009 .

Williams, Andrea. "Catholic Conceptions of Faith: A Generational Analysis." Sociology of Religion 57 (1996): 273-89. JSTOR. Champlain College, Burlington. 5 Apr. 2009 .