> Paul: > I'd be interested in seeing it as well, but notice that even if doing > so eliminated the difference, it wouldn't change my point that in the > real world (where people DO have various levels of education and > income) there don't seem to be any wonderful protections against > divorce inherent in religious practices.
Jim: In other words, let's not examine confounding variables because it might destroy your ill-founded premise? Some literature on divorce and religion in the US: 1. People who are members of churches and who attend services are less likely to divorce than are nonmembers [Breault, K.D. & Kposowa, A. J. 1987. "Explaining divorce in the United States: A study of 3,111 Counties, 1980." Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49:549-558.] [Krishnan, V. 1994. "The impact of wives' employment on attitude toward divorce." Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 22:87-101.] [Amato, P. R. & Rogers, S. J. 1997. "A longitudinal study of marital problems and subsequent divorce." Journal of Marriage and the Family, 59:612-624.] 2. Episcopalians and Presbyterians have lower rates of divorce than Baptists and Pentecostals. While the Baptists and Pentecostals generally espouse more "traditional/conservative" theology, they also tend to be more populated with low SES couples. SES has been posited as the most influential demographic factor in divorce rates [e.g., Hernandez, D. 1993. "When families break up." In US Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, series P20, no. 478. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.] Baptists and Pentecostals still evidence substantially lower divorce rates than among those with no religion at all. [Glenn, N.D., & Supancic, M. 1984. "The social and demographic correlates of divorce and separation in the United States: An update and reconsideration." Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46, 563-575.] 3. Frequency of attendance at religious services is associated with frequency of divorce and/or separation: How often do you go to church (all statistics are rounded)? "Never" - 34% (divorce/separation rate) "Less than yearly" - 32% "Once or twice yearly" - 27% "About once a month" - 24% "2-3 times a month" - 11% "Nearly every week" - 11% "Weekly" - 12% "Several times weekly" - 12% [Source: Glenn, N.D., & Supancic, M. 1984. "The social and demographic correlates of divorce and separation in the United States: An update and reconsideration." Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46, 563-575.] --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
