Christian divorce rates disputed

The Barna Research Group created quite a stir with a report in 2000 that "Born Again Christians" have about the same divorce rate as the general population and that atheists and agnostics have a lower divorce rate.

But statistics can only measure what they can measure and many questions are hard to quantify.

For example, what percentage of Christians choose marriage versus living together and how does that compare to atheists? If atheists do not get married as often, how would that affect divorce rates?

And then there is the question that asks if religious people put too many expectations on marriage. "I think in many ways Christian marriage is harder," said Gary Thomas in an article quoted on adherents.com. Thomas is the author of "Sacred Marriage" and was the director of the Center for Evangelical Spirituality in Bellingham, Wash: "We're expected to forgive. We're expected to give of ourselves. Paul tells husbands that they ought to have the mind of a martyr."

Now Glenn T. Stanton, the director for family formation studies at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colo., calls the claim that Christians have the same divorce rate as the general public inaccurate.

"Based on the best data available, the divorce rate among Christians is significantly lower than the general population," Stanton wrote in the Baptist Press.

"The factor making the most difference is religious commitment and practice," Stanton wrote. "Couples who regularly practice any combination of serious religious behaviors and attitudes — attend church nearly every week, read their Bibles and spiritual materials regularly; pray privately and together; generally take their faith seriously, living not as perfect disciples, but serious disciples — enjoy significantly lower divorce rates than mere church members, the general public and unbelievers."

Here are the statistics Stanton quotes:

— 60 percent of people who identify as Christians but rarely attend have been divorced.

— 38 percent of those who attend church regularly have been divorced.

— Active conservative Protestants who regularly attend church are 35 percent less likely to divorce compared to those who have no affiliation.

— Nominally attending conservative Protestants are 20 percent more likely to divorce than secular Americans.