h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

<<.social interaction....

*not* marriage.....'social interaction' is a much better, and fun term......>>

Yes.

"Effer's is right, really,"

Effers is possessive?

Hi Gif

I think I know where your skepticism may be coming from.

About two years ago, our congregation was perusing data suggesting that the rates of divorce within Christian congregations was as high or perhaps even slightly higher than the national averages (in Canada and the USA). We just couldn't believe that! One of our two elders did some further research and found the data flawed. Those compiling these stats were basing their analysis on the current members and attenders -- many of whom had been legally separated/divorced prior to their acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Saviour. The flaw is that the assessors were assuming that all these divorcees had chucked their marriages after they came to faith. Not so! For the majority, their marriages had gone down the tubes prior to their coming to faith in Christ-- not before.

Our deeper delving seems to explain why the numbers of divorcees in Christian congregations is so high. Those burnt in marriages are flocking for support to congregations who will encourage them, pray for them and leave off any self-righteousness criticisms. Many have biblical support for departing from their spouses i.e. repeated assault and battery, adultery or abandonment by their partners.

In actuality, the rates of divorce involving two born-again believers falls somewhere in the 8-11% range in North America (which is much lower than the norm) though they too do commit some of the grievous sins that warrant divorce. I would expect that within the Muslim community, the rate of divorce is even lower than the fundamental Christians since the stigma of marriage breakup seems to be greater in the Islamist realm.


RC

Hi Effers

Have you any regrets now that you have sobered up?
When I was a " tipsy Tom " many years ago, I rarely thought much of my ribald behaviour -- though in the morning wished I hadn't behaved so recklessly.

RC

Hi Vicky

I agree!

We need to expose ourselves to some degree of vulnerability; otherwise we would wind up living in a cocoon. I fully realize that you and I (as Christians) don't see eye-to-eye on some issues (e.g. my God is a God of war), but we can agree to disagree and that makes for good open-ended discussion. We need to respect others even when they may be wrong.


Rick

>Have you any regrets now that you have sobered up?<


Yes rc I always regret how I feel when sober...and can't wait for my next bout of drunken bacchanalian frenzy. And I *never* regret recklessness.

>We need to respect others even when they may be wrong. <

I know what you mean, rc

Hi Effers

And my response is, Why do you regret having been intemperate the morning after the night before? Is it just the hangover aspect?

RC

<>

Absolutely, yes!

Vicky

No I regret the feeling of being sober...

wine, which cheereth God and man
-Judges 9:13 (part)

Trying to drag this back on-track, and aware I'm largely responsible for derailing it. Rick, if you want to continue on the stats, feel free to post on my Space.

Gif

> if you want to continue on the stats<

Yeah that sounds so rivetingly exciting, Gif

Ooh, hang on, I thought this was the Bible verse thread. It's the 'not hating Christians' thread. In that case:

Hi RC,

The link I gave states that 90% of divorces among evangelicals happen after they were 'saved'. Did you have any comparable statistics, or did you reject the data after you thought you found a possible flaw in it?

Gif

Hi Gif

I cannot comment further on our elder's findings since I did not receive any firm stats from him -- just some summarisations. What he has found certainly would not square with what you are stating. I have not opened your link but will do so just to get a feel of where they are coming from. Be assured I am not attempting to be creative with numbers in order to justify my position -- it is not mine, but our elder's.

I am unsure just what his data is. The difference of his findings to that of your link could simply be attributed to a Canadian divorce rate of 8-11 % with 90% of those being born-agains ( inclusive of first- time marriages and those individuals divorcing after the second or third go round). That would make sense.

RC

Hi Rick,

Well, good luck with your investigation then

There are plenty of surveys out there - the difficult bit is finding surveys that discuss their methodology in any detail. Canadian stats will obviously be very different to US stats (but harder to find).

Gif

>finding surveys that discuss their methodology in any detail<

Well this is always the nub of things isn't it? I could go out in my street and ask 10 people the same question, and come up with some totally meaningless stats. I did a course in statistics at university. Biologists use stats all the time. But unless your methodology is at all consistent with the laws of statistics, you would be contemptuously laughed out of university as an idiot. First of all for not understanding the basic laws of statistics, and secondly for imagining any half way intelligent person would be fooled.

That so few do not understand the difference between 'Stats' and probability is so very

Probability is part of Stats.

And all scientists need to understand 'Probability'. Quantum mechanics is founded on it.

I think Probability theory is totally heated up thing in the universe.

*the most*