Marriage

Religious Americans are far more likely to marry and to stay married than are the irreligious. Reading across, Table 3.3 shows that among adults ages 30 to 45—the prime marriage years—people who never attend church are twice as likely as the weekly attenders to have never married or to currently be divorced or separated.

[Table 3.3]

. . . .

Martial Relations

Here we encounter a militant antireligious bias. Some researchers claim that religious Americans’ more traditional views of sex roles leads to justification of religious husbands’ mistreatment of their wives. A well-known sociologist has been making these charges at academic meetings for more than twenty years, oblivious to an immense body of well-done research that contradicts her. Not only is there no support for claims that religious husbands, especially those of the Evangelical Protestant variety, are more likely to abuse their wives, there is solid evidence that they are better, more loving husbands. A very strong religion effect persists after controls for alcohol and substance abuse. That is, religious men are not less likely to abuse their wives only because they are far less likely to be under the influence of liquor or drugs, but because of religious influences per se. Were it otherwise, one would expect Table 3.4 to look very different.

[Table 3.4]

Reading down the table, although most Americans rate their marriage as very happy, weekly church attenders are more likely to do so than are those who only attend sometimes or who never attend (the differences are statistically significant <.01). The relationship is the same among white and African Americans, but at all levels of church attendance, whites are substantially more likely to rate their marriages as very happy.

Divorce

Table 3.3 has already revealed that weekly church attenders are only half as likely as those who never attend to currently be divorced. But, of course, many who are married have also been divorced. The International Social Survey Project asked a national sample of Americans as well as samples in various European nations, “Have you ever been divorced?”

. . . .in all these nations, church attendance is strongly, negatively related to divorce.

[Table 3.5]

There are probably many reasons that actively religious people enjoy a lower divorce rate. For on thing, they probably place a higher value on marriage and take marriage vows more seriously than low- or nonattenders. Marriage is, after all, held to be a sacred ceremony in many churches and involves consecrated pledges. Religious couples also come into marriage with a substantially stronger tendency toward monogamy; they are far less likely to have been promiscuous before marriage or to engage in extramarital affairs. . . .In addition, having more traditional views that clearly define sex roles probably reduces the conflict and tension in a marriage. Moreover, being active in a church or synagogue surrounds couples with other couples who also are far less likely to get divorced, which sets an example. Finally, many congregations provide free counseling.