wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Americans cling to marriage ideal,

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Note #8972 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05562
Oct. 20, 2005

Americans cling to marriage ideal
but are tolerant of divorce, survey finds

by Adelle M. Banks    
Religion News Service
    
WASHINGTON - Although most Americans still believe that "God's plan for
marriage is one man, one woman, for life," they are tolerant about divorce, a
new survey on family and faith has found.
    
	In a poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the
Public Broadcasting Service program, "Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly," 71
percent of respondents said they believe in the ideal of lifelong traditional
marriage, but just 22 percent agreed that "divorce is a sin."
    
	Religious conservatives were most likely to consider divorce sinful.
But the divorce-is-sin position was a majority view even in their ranks: 34
percent of evangelical Christians and 30 percent of traditional Catholics
said they believe divorce is sinful.
    
	The survey, released on Oct. 19, also looked at the religious
practices of traditional and non-traditional families, and how people
prioritize moral values. The survey was released in advance of a four-part
series on "Faith and Family in America" that will air on "Religion & Ethics
NewsWeekly" beginning on Oct. 28.
    
	More than half of those polled - 52 percent - said divorce can be the
best solution when a couple can't work out their marital problems.
    
	That belief mostly held across the religious spectrum, winning
agreement from 63 percent of those who described themselves as liberal
Catholics, 61 percent of mainline Protestants, 50 percent of people with no
religious preference, 48 percent of evangelical Christians, and 46 percent of
traditional Catholics.
    
	John Green, a professor of political science who is also director of
the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron in Ohio,
said the tension between the marriage ideal and the real stresses of family
life reflects the success of churches and other religious institutions in
upholding a high standard for marriage.
    
	"On the one hand, it may be that the ideal has persisted precisely
because the reality has changed," said Green, who helped analyze the survey
results. "On the other hand, Americans have become much, much more tolerant
of deviations from that ideal."
    
	Researchers found stark differences between the religious practices
and beliefs of traditional and non-traditional families, which they defined
for purposes of comparison as married parents with children younger than 18
(traditional) and unmarried parents with children younger than 18
(non-traditional). 

	Half of the traditional parents said they attend religious services
at least once a week, compared with only one-third of non-traditional
parents.
    
	However, the two groups were almost equally likely to say that
religion is "very important" in their lives (55 percent of non-traditional
vs. 59 percent of traditional) and to say they read scriptures each week (49
percent of both traditional and non-traditional).
    
	Brad Wilcox, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of
Virginia who also helped analyze the results, noted that, while researchers
have found that Protestants, including evangelicals, are no more likely than
members of other groups to remain married, there is a strong link between
religious practice and stable marriage.
    
	"Folks who go to church or to synagogue on a regular basis are much
less likely to divorce," he said.
    
	The survey also revealed how Americans define the term, "moral
values."
    
	Asked whether certain phrases meet their definition of the term, the
highest percentage - 36 percent - chose "personal values, such as honesty and
responsibility." That was followed by "family values, such as trying to
protect children from sex and violence on TV and the Internet." Social
issues, including abortion and gay marriage, and social-justice matters, such
as human rights and discrimination, were cited by only 10 percent of those
surveyed.
    
	"A lot of people identify with this term; it may have ... influenced
their voting behavior, but it means different things to different people,"
Green said. "And the most common meaning isn't those hot-button social issues
that are oftentimes connected with that term 'moral values,' but rather
questions of personal behavior."
    
	He said the poll may offer some guidance to leaders of religious
congregations.
    
	"I think that one implication of these findings is that there is a
real opportunity for congregations to find ways to help non-traditional
families cope with the stressors in their lives," he said.
    
	The telephone survey of 1,130 adults, conducted between July 25 and
Aug. 7, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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