A Knight in Dragonland

8 responses so far ↓

• 1    Pammy // Dec 22, 2006 at 12:09 am

  “Huh”, indeed. And this from a Christian research group? I wonder if they were at all suprised with the results?

• 2    C. J. Summers // Dec 22, 2006 at 7:24 am

  It’s very regrettable and, frankly, shameful that Christians are not a better witness in this area.

• 3    knightindragonland // Dec 22, 2006 at 3:12 pm

  The Barna Research Group is a Christian organization, and in my brief overview of their website I was impressed with their sincerity and intellectual honesty. They’ve also done surveys regarding the negative public perception of born-again Christianity and other topics that reveal a probing self-examination of their own religion. They seem to be making an honest effort to confront inconsistencies in their own faith because they want to see it thrive. I commend them.

  I will also say this … the survey is considered one of the least accurate forms of data collection in science & medicine, although if anything I think that Christians would UNDERreport divorce rather than OVERreport it. I think the main thing that this survey points out is that there aren’t really huge differences in divorce rates in this country no matter what your faith tradition or lack thereof.

  I also want to say that I’m not trying to proclaim a war on Christians at Christmas. I have several dear friends that are devoted Christians and I deeply respect the devoted Christians of our local blogosphere … C.J., BJ Aberle, and Laura (Eyebrows).

  My “opponent” here is the vitriolic dogmatism that has infected members of the Religious Right and the Republican Party. I think this survey shoots big holes in some of their rhetoric.

• 4    BJ Aberle // Dec 24, 2006 at 3:14 am

  Yeah… it kind of makes it hard to be taken seriously when we want to take a stand on gay marriage.

  Here’s a thought. Maybe there is a lower number of atheist who get married. My own non-scientific deduction might suggest that someone who feels that they may not need God, might feel the same about publicly commiting to marriage. Just a thought.

• 5    knightindragonland // Dec 24, 2006 at 5:11 am

  That’s possible, BJ. I didn’t see the actual report (it’s no longer available on the Barna site), just the summary on ReligiousTolerance.org. The original report probably has a breakdown of the numbers belonging to each group, so one might be able to infer something from that. I’m sure there were probably relatively few atheists / agnostics, so sampling error could be an issue as well.

  I think it’s also quite possible that the trials of a divorce could provide the impetus for seeking a renewal in one’s faith. It would be interesting to see a breakdown of the numbers who were divorced BEFORE they were “born again” vs. those who divorced after. I don’t know if the Barna group made that distinction or not.

• 6    Vonster // Dec 28, 2006 at 8:03 pm

  Those damned Christians…ruining America. They should all be driven back to the catacombs, eh Dr. Knight?

• 7    Michelle // Dec 29, 2006 at 4:17 am

  I think perhaps there’s another explanation: In some cases, people of faith feel compelled to marry (especially if they want to have sex) whereas those without a religious faith may not feel that same pressure to wed. Perhaps atheists who decide to wed — feeling no religious pressure to do so — tend to get married for the right reasons, while a certain small percentage of religious people get married in order to meet the expectations of their church — which is NOT a good reason to marry.

  There is only one good reason to marry another person — because you have an overwhelming desire to share the rest of your life with that person.

  It’s much like the decision to have children: It should never been seen as something one “should” do. The only reason why people should ever have children is because they have an overwhelming desire to provide a child with all the love and nurturing a child needs. Many people who get married and have children have no business doing either and would actually be happier if they hadn’t.

  These comments are not meant to imply that a large number of religious people marry only due to outside pressure. I am theorizing that a small number of them do, perhaps enough to explain the stats quoted. I recall someone I used to know giving his brother hell because he said he didn’t want to marry or have children — he actually said it was his DUTY to do so and if he didn’t, it was because he was lazy. That is the kind of attitude I’m referring to.

• 8    knightindragonland // Dec 29, 2006 at 10:24 pm

  I like your theory, Michelle … but then Catholics tied with Atheists / Agnostics and Lutherans for the lowest divorce rate, and the Catholic hierarchy is certainly a strong proponent of the duty to marry and have children that you mentioned. However, the lower divorce rate among Catholics in this survey might have something to do with the much greater stigma associated with divorce when compared to Protestant denominations. I don’t think that’s entirely healthy, either.

  My wife was raised Catholic. If we had wanted to be married in a Catholic Church, we could have done it. I wouldn’t have to convert … they don’t care about my soul apparently … BUT, we would have to agree to (1) have children (mission accomplished despite our avoidance of the Catholic Church LoL) and (2) raise them Catholic. I find that … well, honestly, kinda creepy.

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