Correcting the Record

A common statistic that has been making the rounds for some time is that Christians get divorced at or above the overall national rate. I have used this statistic myself in talks to Christian group. As it turns out, however, it's not true. 

In a recent Breakpoint commentary John Stonestreet reported that:

"As Bradford Wilcox, a leading sociologist at the University of Virginia and Director of the National Marriage Project found in 2007, active, conservative members of both Protestant and Catholic churches are significantly less likely to divorce—by 35 and 31 percent, respectively—than Americans who are religiously unaffiliated.

The numbers often get skewed, says Stanton, because most studies fail to take into account the level of religious commitment and practice among those who identify themselves as Christians. Those who claim to be Christian but rarely darken the door of a church divorce at a rate 20% higher than secular Americans.

So contrary to popular wisdom, most of those who take seriously God’s pronouncement, “I hate divorce,” in Malachi 2:16 really do seem to—well—hate divorce. "

And that's a good thing. I appreciate the correction.
www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/20460