PUBLIC APOLOGY!

On my post Honor my husband!...pffft Whatever! I gave a statistic: 50% divorce to marriage rate (Mormons have higher than national average, so don't smirk). One my commenteers called me out, "You are the first person I've ever heard claim Mormons have a higher divorce rate than average. Either I don't know what you are talking about, or you don't. So back up your claim please, from where do your suspect statistics come?"

I knew I needed to back up my stat and my quip so I consulted the great Oracle . . . GOOGLE.

Turns out I AM WRONG!

The statistical survey that showed Mormons having the second highest divorce rate of religious demographics and higher then the national average was conducted in 1983. Not only was this study old and outdated, the findings were an aberration from studies preceding and following it, therefore it was and is largely dismissed.

More recent studies show the following...

Barna report: Variation in divorce rates among Christian faith groups:

Denomination (in order of decreasing divorce rate) % who have been divorced

Non-denominational ** 34%
Baptists 29%
Mainline Protestants 25%
Mormons 24%
Catholics 21%
Lutherans 21%

** Barna uses the term "non-denominational" to refer to Evangelical Christian congregations that are not affiliated with a specific denomination. The vast majority are fundamentalist in their theological beliefs.

Though my snarky comment was incorrect, my overall point about the cultural diminishment of the strong male role model contributing to the divorce rate remains true. Check out this interview with Dr. Shoshanna, best selling author of Why Men Leave.