MILITANT ATHEISM EXPOSED HOME

Introduction

ATHEISM / ATHEISTS AND DIVORCE

     Very little else has produced as much euphoria in atheists than Christian researcher, George Barna's announcement that Born Again and many other Christians have a very high rate of divorce, while atheists have the lowest rate. Atheist web sites immediately announced the glorious news worldwide. The divorce rates they published were the following: Jews: 30%; Born Again Christians: 27%; other Christians: 24% -- atheists only 21%. [1]

     According to some atheists, the main reasons why atheists divorce less are as follows:

1. Atheists take marriage more seriously. 

2. Atheists cohabit before marriage .

3. Atheists have an equal relationship with their mates.

4. Atheists reject the patriarchal model.

     An atheist leader, Ron Barrier, spokesperson for American Atheists, was quoted as follows:

These findings confirm what I have been saying these last five years. Since Atheist ethics are of a higher caliber than religious morals, it stands to reason that our families would be dedicated more to each other than to some invisible monitor in the sky. With Atheism, women and men are equally responsible for a healthy marriage. There is no room in Atheist ethics for the type of 'submissive' nonsense preached by Baptists and other Christian and/or Jewish groups. Atheists reject, and rightly so, the primitive patriarchal attitudes so prevalent in many religions with respect to marriage.[2]

     Are the views of this and other atheists really valid? Is there more to all this than what they want us to believe?

     Let's start with the actual statistics. Was George Barna quoted correctly? We have tried to locate the original stats from the Barna site, and this is what we found:

You can understand why atheists and agnostics might have a high rate of divorce, since they are less likely to believe in concepts such as sin, absolute moral truth and judgment. Yet the survey found that the percentage of atheists and agnostics who have been married and divorced is 37% - (Emphasis mine) very similar to the numbers for the born again population.[3]

     Assuming that we are missing something and that, indeed, the 21% mentioned by atheist sites is what Barna really found, we would like to inform gleeful atheists of the following crucial facts they need to keep in mind before they get too euphoric:

1. The sample used by Barna was a bit less than 4000. Atheists and agnostics make up about 10% of the American population (Probably 2% being atheists). That means that about 400 of the people sampled were atheists/agnostics (Only about 80 being atheists). This is hardly a sufficient sample to reach any reliable conclusion.

2.  Atheists tend to cohabit in large numbers. According to Barna, " Forty-two percent of adults who associate with a faith other than Christianity had co-habited, while atheists were the most likely to do so (51%).[4] 

     It is critical to stress that it is a well known fact that cohabiters experience a very high number of "breakups" before getting married. "Millions of people – particularly women – believe that cohabitation is a prelude to marriage. And for many, it is. However, Smock reports that 45% of cohabitations break up with no marriage. Another 10% continue cohabiting."[5]

     Barna did not include this enlightening fact in his research. Thus, if 21% of atheists divorce after marriage, and 45 % break up once or more before marriage, what we have is the astounding rate of about 66% of atheist couples experiencing "at least" one break up. How is that for success in relationships?

     It should also be stressed that it is also a well established fact that people who live common law before marriage have a greater chance of divorce than couples who don't live common law. Thus, given the fact that atheists' cohabitations rates are 51%, it is quite possible that their divorce rates are actually higher than the 37% mentioned by Barna.

"A study of 3,300 cases based on the National Survey of Families and Households, (NSFH) found that in marriage, prior cohabiters “are estimated to have a hazard of dissolution that is about 46% higher than for noncohabitors” (DeMaris & Rao, 1992).  Larry Bumpass, who has overseen NSFH studies, concurs" [6]

     These facts totally shatter the atheist contention that cohabitation is a good thing, and that it is one of the reasons why they have a low rate of marital dissolution. The truth is the very opposite.

3.  Research indicates that what correlates highly with marital success is age at marriage and finances. People who marry young tend to have a greater probability of divorce. People who experience financial stress have greater probability of divorce. Baptists, for instance, tend to marry younger that atheists. They also experience greater financial difficulties, because of lower educational levels. Therefore, these factors are without doubt affecting their divorce rates.

4.  Catholics and some other major denominations, according to Barna, have a 21% divorce rate. Furthermore, there are smaller Christian groups where divorce is probably next to non-existent, given their strong belief that marriage is a sacred institution not to be tampered with. Atheists don't bother mentioning them.

5. The appellation "Christian" a Christian does not make. There are great numbers of people in this world who call themselves "Christians" but have never internalized the teachings of Jesus Christ. Most, in fact, do not even know what His teachings really are. Many know, but do not take seriously Christ's teaching that marriage is sacred and that divorce is only allowed on very rare occasions where sexual immorality takes place.

Although Bible scholars and teachers point out that Jesus taught that divorce was a sin unless adultery was involved, few Americans buy that notion. Only one out of every seven adults (15%) strongly agreed with the statement "when a couple gets divorced without one of them having committed adultery, they are committing a sin." A similar percentage (16%) moderately agreed with the statement. The vast majority - 66% - disagreed with the statement, most of them strongly dismissing the notion.[7]

     What we see therefore in many professing Christians is a strong disregard for

Biblical teachings, with ensuing marital disasters.

6. Given the more "flexible" sexual morals of some atheists, it would be safe to

assume that at least some atheist couples have more "elastic" relationships which

actually allow affairs with other people. Such "alternative" lifestyles are not condemned

by some atheists, given their "tolerant" attitude toward sexuality. Clearly this would

prevent some couples from splitting up because of out-of-marriage sexual

relationships, at least for awhile. The dark side of this is that it increases their chances of

contracting deadly STD's.

CONCLUSION

     There are, therefore, no justifiable reasons for atheists to gloat about the Barna research. When various relevant factors are taken into consideration, atheists are not as successful in their relationships as they would like others to believe. This does not excuse the very high rate of divorce among some professing Christians. Divorce is strongly condemned by the Christian Master, and going against His will makes evident a superficial and hypocritical form of Christianity that only serves to give ammunition to the enemies of Jesus Christ.

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