Those Inaccurate Divorce Statistics

I remember that in one of my statistics classes the professor said at the beginning of the semester that we needed to know that in life, we would find “there are liars, then there are damnable liars, and then there are statisticians.”  He was warning us to be careful with our statistics!

Here’s an example where many of us are not careful, including me.  For years, I have been appalled at, and even ofter quoted, the statistic that divorce in the church was roughly at the same rate as in the rest of the country.  I even amended my statement to say that in some ways, the divorce rate in the church may even be higher due to the growth of the number of couples cohabiting instead of marrying.  I want to repent of my error!

Some months ago, I reported on the findings of a study reported in the Journal of Marriage and Family that found that when couples practice their faith together, their marital satisfaction went up.  But there was no mention of how it affected the divorce rate.  My intuition said it had a profound effect, especially when the couple practices their faith together at home.  But the research made no mention of divorce statistics.

Now I have new, accurate statistics that reflect the findings of that research project.  A sociologist researcher at the University of Connecticut reports that in his research, he found that among people who said they were Christians, but hardly ever attended church, 60% had been divorced.  Of those who attended church regularly, 38% had been divorced.  That’s an interesting, and a probably more accurate way to define the differences.

Another sociologist  at the University of Virginia set up his research a bit differently, but with similar results.  He found that Christians who regularly attended church were 35% less likely to divorce compared to secular Americans.  Here’s a disturbing, even shocking statistic he also found–conservative Protestants who rarely attended church were 20% MORE likely to divorce, compared to secular Americans.

And the difference isn’t just related to Protestants.  In fact, the predictive statistics were the same with Catholics and Jews.  Catholics in name only are still 18% less likely to divorce; nominal Catholics were 5% less likely to divorce; and active Catholics were 31% less likely to divorce than secular Americans.

Jewish couples who didn’t practice their faith were 39% more likely to divorce; nominal Jewish couples were 53% more likely to divorce; but active Jewish couples were 97% less likely to divorce than secular Americans.

My take on these differences is that there is something very strong in an active Jewish faith that keeps couples together, and it is somewhat less strong among active Catholic  and active conservative Protestant couples.

We see that an Active faith, coupled with an active participation in church does make a difference in marriage.  But there is more to be done.  Some churches have actually eliminated divorces among their members through an active couples program, and by making available resources being made available when they become aware that a couple is in crisis.

Question: Why do you think regular church attendance makes such a difference?