Should Divorce Be Allowed?
IN JUNE 1986 voters in the Irish Republic voted by a margin of 3 to 2 to uphold their ban on divorce. This made the Republic the only country in Western Europe in which divorce is still illegal.
Evidently, in spite of the wave of liberal attitudes and thinking, most people’s view on the emotionally charged issue of divorce is still heavily influenced by their background. Race, education, and social factors all play a role. But of all things, religion, or the lack of it, remains the single most important influence.
What is your view of divorce? If a married couple feel miserable living together and are clearly incompatible, should they be allowed to end their misery by obtaining a divorce? How would you answer this question? More importantly, on what would you base your answer?
Varied and Conflicting Views
For the millions who hold to Roman Catholic standards, there is simply no divorce. “In Christian marriage,” explains The Catholic Encyclopedia, “there can never be an absolute divorce [with the right to remarry], at least after the marriage has been consummated.” However, the Roman Catholic Church grants annulment on certain conditions, and this procedure is widely used. For example, in April 1986 The Denver Post reported: “Local Catholics are asking for so many marriage annulments that the Denver Archdiocese is spending $250,000 on increased staff and a computer to keep up with the workload.” The report further said that “in the Denver Archdiocese, there is a three-year backlog of 700 annulment cases.”
Protestants in hundreds of denominations around the world are faced with a vast array of church laws and regulations on divorce. In general, however, Protestant authorities allow divorce only on serious grounds. But what is considered serious can vary greatly from one church to another. Offenses such as adultery, cruelty, and desertion are generally accepted, but they are by no means the only ones. Some denominations now have divorce ceremonies and services with hymns and prayers as in weddings. In one such ceremony, “marriage vows are repealed. The couple hand their wedding rings to the minister. The service ends with a pronouncement from the minister that the marriage is dissolved, and the couple shake hands,” reports The New York Times.
Jews have a tradition enforced by religious courts. Rabbinic laws allow divorce either on mutual agreement by the spouses or on grounds of physical defects or intolerable conduct. The divorce is considered legal, however, only when the husband issues a “get,” or certificate of divorce, and this can be a source of contention. Out of resentment some husbands refuse to issue the document, or they use it as a bargaining chip. “This problem has left thousands of devout Jewish women in a painful marital limbo,” said New York City Council President Andrew Stein in an address to a gathering of rabbis, lawyers, and others. Without the get, the woman’s remarriage is considered illegal, and any offspring is stigmatized as a mamzer, or bastard, in the modern State of Israel.
As for the nonreligious and the atheists, who presumably go by the law of the land, the issue is still not a simple one. This is because divorce legislation differs from country to country and even from area to area within the same country. One authority lists some 50 grounds on which a legal divorce may be obtained in various parts of the United States. These include “gross misbehavior and wickedness,” “no reasonable likelihood of marriage being preserved,” and “refusal by wife to move with husband to this state.” In recent times, even the last trace of the sense of right and wrong has been removed by what is commonly called no-fault divorce.
Still a Perplexing Situation
Even though many of these varied and conflicting laws and regulations on divorce are said to be based on the Bible, have they been successful in strengthening the institution of marriage or bolstering human happiness? The rising divorce rate—one divorce for every two marriages in some countries—provides a clear answer. Not only have these laws been unsuccessful in strengthening the marriage bond but they have also added to the misery and suffering in the lives of millions.
In view of this, it is important for those who are genuinely concerned with doing what is right to find out what the Bible really says on this subject.