Bible Belt is Also Divorce Belt
Posted March 29, 2007
Thank God for Nevada. Without it, Arkansas would have the highest divorce rate in the entire nation.
The Natural State had 6.1 divorces for every 1,000 residents in 2004 -- the most recent year I could find statistics for. Ironically, Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate -- 2.2 per 1,000 resident. (Nationally, there were 3.7 divorces per 1,000 residents that year.)
Many other Southern states have divorce rates that are above the national average.
Now, the state of Arkansas is partnering with churches to try to prevent divorces and strengthen family. Houses of worship can even get state grants of up to $10,000 each for pro-marriage activities.
Click below to read more.
By Frank Lockwood
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas has one of the highest divorce rates in the country, but state officials hope a new program targeting the faith-based community can help lower the number of broken families.
The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service is offering training sessions for up to 125 religious and community leaders in April and May. Each participant will receive a set of books on strengthening marriages and will be introduced to “The Marriage Garden” — a curriculum that was developed by the service.
Those who attend can apply for a state grant to fund marriage-strengthening activities. Up to 25 of the $10,000 awards will be given away.
The Arkansas Transitional Employment Board is funding the program, which is administered by the Department of Workforce Services.
Other than Nevada, this state perennially has the highest divorce rate in the country, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, a government agency that tracks the data.
“We’re glad to have the chance to work with the faith groups of the community. They do have the ears and maybe even the heart of the people,” said Wallace Goddard, a professor and family life specialist with the extension service.
Houses of worship aren’t allowed to use the money to proselytize, Goddard said. Other than that, would-be grant recipients could propose any number of things, he said. Possibilities include organizing a marriage mentoring program, creating a strong marriages library, or holding a family and marriage celebration.
“Whatever way they choose to use that money, it could really be a positive thing for that faith community,” Goddard added.
Bella Vista Assembly of God pastor Jonathan Watson says it make sense for church and state to cooperate on this type of program. "I think churches have a grassroots connection that makes them very valuable in dissemenating information. ... It may be one of the best distribution devices you could have."
Churches can also teach the "godly principles" that undergird healthy relationships, he said.
Pastor Jon Carnes of Brockington Road Church of the Nazarene in Sherwood is among those who may attend.
“I’d love to sit down and listen to what they’re saying,” Carnes said. “When they partner [with churches] on things like this, I think they can really help marriages.”
The partnership makes sense, Carnes says, as long as the state doesn’t prevent churches from talking about the scriptural foundation for strong marriages.
Protecting families is a goal church and state can both embrace, Carnes suggested.
“If you don’t have strong families you can’t have a strong society. You’ll have all kinds of problems,” he said.
Rita Sklar, executive director of the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, says religious groups can legally receive state funds “as long as it’s for a legitimate secular purpose and is not used to promote religion.”
Programs that feed the hungry and shelter the homeless are examples, she said.
With “pro-marriage” church activities, the lines between the secular and the religious could easily blur, she suggested. “That’s a difficult line to walk when you talk about values such as the value of marriage and family.”
Arkansas had 6.1 divorces per 1,000 residents in 2004, second highest in the nation. Massachusetts was the state with the lowest divorce rate — just 2.2 per 1,000 residents. Nationally, there were about 3.7 divorces per 1,000 residents.
Training sessions are scheduled to be held April 12-13 in Bismarck; April 19-20 in Pine Bluff; April 23-24 in Little Rock; May 10-11 in Jonesboro and May 17-18 in Fayetteville.
More information is available by calling (501) 671-2123.
Comments
The hypocrisy is nauseating...
Evangelicals go on and on about others “destroying the family”, yet it looks like the safest place for families are regions with few evangelicals.
So, the proposed solution for this problem must naturally be throwing tax money at the same churches that marry and minister to these divorce prone evangelicals.
And telling these preachers and churches that they can’t use the funds to “proselytize” is a real hoot....
Looks like good old married heterosexuals are the ones who are desecrating the sanctity of marriage, not gays and lesbians.
John Bresnahan is right! Jesus called divorce and remarriage adultery. He later says that they will be cast into the lake of fire along with murderers and homosexuals.
So much for marriage being between one man and one woman.
Then there's that report that one in ten straight men have sex with another male. Of this group, 70% are married.
The University of Oregon's sheep study shows that 8% of the population are born homosexual. This also applies to humans.
There's the intersexuals — those born with both male and female genitalia, and the androgynes — those with male or female genitalia but whose brains are the opposite.
Together, that means about 20% percent of the population engages in sex other than straight.
Should we be surprised that the divorce rate is so high?
Evangelicals preoccupation with same sex activity may be enticing more people into trying it.
Based upon the comments here, the last place a person who's divorced would go to for help is a church.
Athiests have one of the lowest divorce rates. Maybe the church is producing dysfunctional people.
As a Catholic, I am not surprised. Because of so much divorce in America there is tremendous pressure on our Church from some of its own members to throw out Christ's strong, unequivocal condemnation of divorce --and especially re-marriage (adultery, he called it). Mass. is one of the top states in percentage of Catholics. Possibly the divorce chickens are coming home to roost in the Bible Belt as it is hard to have a culture which respects the permanence of marriage and the family when the religion of the people enshrines a right to divorce in its teachings. Hopefully, seeing statistics like this will give strength to those in the Catholic Church who don't want to undercut Christ's own words.