[Cerek]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: Oh God Groj, divorce rates as moral values? Are you trying to drag Henry VIII into this?

Errrm...it was actually Djinn Raffo that equated divorce rates with moral values. Grojlach and his article correctly correlated divorce rates with family values (or an apparant lack thereof).

Grojlach - As for the article itself, I thought it made some very good points. I agree that the fact more northerner tend to seek higher education and (thus) wait longer to get married is one important factor keeping the divorce rate lower. I concur that - the older you are, the more mature you are (generally speaking ) and that those who get married later in life tend to STAY married to the same person.

Then again, a good friend of mine pointed out that it takes TWO people to get married, but only takes ONE person to get a divorce. That doesn't necessarily mean the other partner wanted the divorce or was unwilling to try to make the marriage work.

I also agree that the predominance of Roman Catholics in the North play a much larger role in the lower divorce rates. I don't know what the Southern Baptist Association's "official stance" on divorce is, but I've not been in a single Baptist church that didn't have at least a few members who were in their 2nd (and sometimes 3rd) marriage. My own pastor preached a message AGAINST divorce about a year ago - which was pretty brave, IMHO - since we have several members that have been divorced and re-married.

The article is also correct that people in the South tend to get married much sooner after high school - and that those marriages seldom last. Getting married that young was the norm in my parents generation. Few people in this area could even afford to go to college after high school back in the 1950's....so the men either joined the military or got a job and the women especially looked for a job and husband shortly after graduation. However, for my generation, I can honostly say I don't know of a single couple that got married during (or shortly after) high school that stayed married. I do know TWO couples that actually started dating in high school (one couple has been together since the 9th grade [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] ) and eventually got married - but both of these couples waited at least a couple of years before getting married and both of them are still together.

The couple that started dating in the 9th grade got married during junior year in college (IIRC) and the wife was pregnant with their first child during the Finals Week of her last Senior semester. They made it through that, but I don't doubt that she STILL wishes they had timed that a little better.