Born-agains have higher divorce rate than the rest of society!!

You want to save the nucular family?? Begin by not promoting bornagainsism.


This is from a fundie rag no less: http://www.family.org/fofmag/pp/a0023971.cfm


"The divorce rate is actually higher by a small margin among born-again Christians than for those who profess no faith at all." --James Dobson

If they're so worried about the "sanctity of marriage," shouldn't they start with themselves? Doesn't a 50% divorce rate do more damage to the institution of marriage than gay marriage possibly could?

Maybe their "sanctity of marriage" argument is a cover for their real problem:

"The traditional family is the most effective instrument ever designed to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. The vast majority of believers come to Christ when they are children, under the influence of their parents. If that institution breaks down, however, the faith of generations to come will be in jeopardy. . .It comes down to this indisputable fact: The family is critical to the propagation of the faith." --Dobson

Just kidding!

As soon as I saw the headline - up, its all the fault of those libruls in Mass who legalized gay marriage.

Marriage involves tolerating a lot of things. You have to tolerate your spouses annoying habits, shortcomings, etc... You have to tolerate when your spouse fucks up royally (I've fucked up royally before) and fundies are the LEAST tolerant people I know. In the end, love always wins out. I'm coming up on 13 years, and still love my wife dearly, so I guess we've done something right. Oh, and I'm an atheist.

fundies aren't tolerant. My fundie co-workers switch churches frequently. If someone tells them something they don't like, they bolt. Same with their marriages. If the spouse doesn't tow the line, they're out of there. They're always squabbling with their family members. And they're desperate for a "higher authority" to condone their actions. That way, their disappointments are outside their responsibility. It was God's will. He/she wasn't "religious" enough. One of my most virulent fundie co-workers is on her fourth marriage...and she's not that old! She's anti-gay marriage...maybe because "they" would get her place in line at the church for the next wedding?

because he is a "born-again" and he is trying to force his beliefs and ideas on his wife. She can't take it anymore and is leaving him.

He told me today that in "Bible study" they learned that the man is the head of the household and that what a man says, goes. So he has took this stance with his wife and it is the straw that broke the camels back and now he has ruined his marriage with this dumbass statement.

Once again, Why is religion a good thing???

that fundie guy. That was in the Old Testament. Clearly he isn't reading the New Testament where it states that man/woman are EQUAL in God's eyes and you're to work together as a couple. What an a$$!!!!

the New Testament.

good to get the fuck away from that idiot while she still can.

become obsessed with God?

I believe in God. I just think that there are a lot of people out there misusing his message. There are a lot of people out there that are using the Bible to beat down their fellow man. It is not in the 10 commandments, but, I believe that to be the most heinous of crimes. The right wing is using religion as many churches use religion to control and gather in their flock/supporters. Some of us can actually believe in God AND think for ourselves at the same time. We don't need to be led by crooked ministers and/or politicians. All you have to do is to read the Bible to know that they are all full of crap. It really is a beautiful book and I believe that Jesus was the greatest human being to ever walk the face of the earth. I also believe that most of the churches and most certainly most all of the (RW and many Dems) politicans are walking and talking for Satan himself.

As far as your friend goes, well that is another example of incorrect information given to a "born again Christian". It states very clearly in the Bible NOT to leave a spouse simply because they are not Christian. I know that the wife left because the husband went fanatical on her, but if he really and truly understood what the Bible said, it doesn't say to go fanatical. Christians are supposed to lead BY EXAMPLE, not by clubs.

"The traditional family is the most effective instrument ever designed to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. The vast majority of believers come to Christ when they are children, under the influence of their parents."
Some might prefer to call it brainwashing... hell, some might go so far as to call it child-abuse.

" If that institution breaks down, however, the faith of generations to come will be in jeopardy"
What? So, even though it is supposedly the "absolute truth™", it is so fragile that we need to make sure to brainwash our children so this wonderful "faith" can survive?

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Try the google-cache copy:
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:lkUfe_jIEfsJ:www.family.org/fofmag/pp/a0023971.cfm+%22The+divorce+rate+is+actually+higher+by+a+small+margin+among+born-again+Christians+than+for+those+who+profess+no+faith+at+all.%22&hl=en

George Barna Research Group. George Barna, a born-again Christian whose company is in Ventura, Calif.

http://www.worthynews.com/news-features/christian-divorce-rate.html

The Barna Research Firm is defending a recent survey which found some disturbing statistics regarding born-again Christians and divorce. The survey found that born-again Christians were just as likely as non-believers to divorce.

In fact, the survey found that the divorce rate is higher for Christians when compared with non-believers.



http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/pr.nsf/stable/new_barna

A new survey shows that evangelicals less likely than other Americans to help children orphaned by AIDS.

The survey of more than 1,000 adults, sponsored by World Vision and conducted by the California-based Barna Research Group, found that 3 percent of evangelicals said they "definitely" would help children orphaned because of AIDS, compared with 5 percent of all respondents.



http://www.connectionmagazine.org/archives_old/archives/2000/oct2000/disturbing.htm

Americans have been called the most religious population on earth. But a new study shows that only a minority of adults strongly hold opinions that line up with scripture.

A recent Barna Research survey showed that 60% of all adults agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches. However, people's knowledge of the content actually taught in the Bible often falls short. For example, 53% of people believe the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves. Forty-one percent agreed that the Holy Spirit is not real, but a symbol of God's presence.

Drives home an important point, that should never be forgotten when dealing with people who claim that this is a "Christian country" and similar tommy-rot aimed at persuading themselves and others their's is a majority position. The fact is that very few people who imagine themselves to be "Christians", and therefore respond that they are such when asked, hold to much real Christian dogma, and most in fact hold to a great deal that is wholly heretical and pagan. Anyone who believes, for example, that "good people" will go to Heaven is no Christian at all, for it is a most basic dogma of the creed that belief in Jesus is the only passport to that happy sphere. Anyone who denies persons who do not believe in Jesus are doomed to Hell-fire is certainly no Christian, and for the same reason; that is an elemental aspect of the creed. Anyone who doubts the physical resurrection of the Christ is no Christian, anyone who says the Christ was a great moral teacher and revolutionary is no Christian, and the list could be expanded almost infinitely to take in beliefs held by a vast number of persons who call themselves Christians but are as far from being actually so as persons like myself who take a wholly secular view. Poking injto details, it is possible to expand the matter even further: the Christ spoke far more, and more explicitly, against divorce than against fornication. The Bible plainly directs Christians to cooperate with any government edict, save one requiring explicitly worship of anything but the Christ as God, directs Christians to refrain from suing in government courts, to seek medical care only from their pastors, and to turn over incomes and properties to their pastors; it directs that Christians ought not to free slaves, even Christian slaves, and that taxes be paid without protest.

"Have you actually read the bloody book?"

how they're such hypocrites. "We have to save marriage!!!" :eyes: Yet the Church (if they follow the Bible) states you're not aloud to remarry and divorce unless a Biblical reason (like adultery or abuse for example).

and if I remember correctly, a higher rate of spousal abuse.

From a study I read a long, long time ago. No link.

RW born again fundies are also more likely to cheat on their spouse. This observation comes not only from watching what happens around me, but also from personal experience. Yes, I was a dog in the Buckle of the Bible Belt:evilgrin:

but is that before or after they get saved? I'm asking becasue my fundie soon to be ex insurance agent is born again and after he got "Saved" he got remarried, he and the new Mrs. have 6 marriages between them.

:shrug:

If you read the article, it's not MARRIAGE that is in jeopardy.

It is their own brand of Hypochristianity that is in trouble.

They don't want their religion to serve marriage... they want marriage to indoctrinate children into their religion.

who invariably would cancel on Sunday afternoon/evening get togethers. She and her spouse would have had a fight. I always wondered if there was something about their church that would get them fighting.

They just got divorced.

2nd highest divorce rate in the country. Wanna know the one with the lowest?
















Massachussetts. Yup.

The writer suggested that the legislature pass a bill making divorce illegal. I expected a rash of angry responses. So far no one has written. I was so bewildered by the letter that I didn't respond. I should have.

Massachussetts also has the highest rate of Marriage, the best public schools, and the lowest rate of abortions!

that is just something else. As long as that person accepts Jesus, they can beat their wife, kids, snort meth and their drug of choice, and so on......

But you better make sure that your dress goes past your knees, and your swimming suit is a knee-length skorts type number for church camp. They campaign to sign up youth. Free soda, bikes and anything else to draw kids. BTW, you should see the manner of dress when not in church. LOL.

One mom and daughter who used to live in this town and went to the church, shared boyfriends. The daughter was 14 years old at the time. Momma would hold little parties, buying booze and had a little 'meth' problem. (This was told to me, besides living a small town where news travels fast, by her own sister who had enough with her sister.)

that outlaws divorce . . . at least the Democrats should propose it as an amendment to point up the rank hypocrisy of the neocons . . .

shouldn't Bush call for a constitutional amendment banning "born again" Christianity? If divorce isn't harmful to marriage, I don't know what is.

that huge resort that was owned by Jim/Tammy Faye Baker...

How messed up should I be!!

Do tell. I heard it was an ultra-creepy theme park for fundies.

I'm an ex-fundamentalist and happy as hell to be out of the whole damned thing.

Do you look back with surprise at your involvement?

I thought I was smart enough to avoid cults. ::shrug::

One corollary to this idea is that no one helped Bush win more than Dr. James Dobson. Forget Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who in their dotage have marginalized themselves with gaffes (this week Robertson referred to potential Supreme Court nominee Miguel Estrada as "Erik Estrada"). Forget Ralph Reed, now enriching himself as a lobbyist-operative, leaving the Christian Coalition a shell of its former self. Forget Gary Bauer, now known chiefly as a failed presidential candidate who tumbled off a stage while flipping pancakes. Dobson is now America's most influential evangelical leader, with a following reportedly greater than that of either Falwell or Robertson at his peak.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2109621/




In his best-selling book, "The Strong-Willed Child," child-rearing author James Dobson describes how he abused his family's pet dachshund, Siggie:

"Please don't misunderstand me. Siggie is a member of our family and we love him dearly. And despite his anarchistic nature, I have finally taught him to obey a few simple commands. However, we had some classic battles before he reluctantly yielded to my authority.
"The greatest confrontation occurred a few years ago when I had been in Miami for a three-day conference. I returned to observe that Siggie had become boss of the house while I was gone. But I didn't realize until later that evening just how strongly he felt about his new position as Captain.

"At eleven o'clock that night, I told Siggie to go get into his bed, which is a permanent enclosure in the family room. For six years I had given him that order at the end of each day, and for six years Siggie had obeyed.
"On this occasion, however, he refused to budge. You see, he was in the bathroom, seated comfortably on the furry lid of the toilet seat. That is his favorite spot in the house, because it allows him to bask in the warmth of a nearby electric heater..."

"When I told Sigmund to leave his warm seat and go to bed, he flattened his ears and slowly turned his head toward me. He deliberately braced himself by placing one paw on the edge of the furry lid, then hunched his shoulders, raised his lips to reveal the molars on both sides, and uttered his most threatening growl. That was Siggie's way of saying. "Get lost!"
"I had seen this defiant mood before, and knew there was only one way to deal with it. The ONLY way to make Siggie obey is to threaten him with destruction. Nothing else works. I turned and went to my closet and got a small belt to help me "reason" with Mr. Freud."

"What developed next is impossible to describe. That tiny dog and I had the most vicious fight ever staged between man and beast. I fought him up one wall and down the other, with both of us scratching and clawing and growling and swinging the belt. I am embarrassed by the memory of the entire scene. Inch by inch I moved him toward the family room and his bed. As a final desperate maneuver, Siggie backed into the corner for one last snarling stand. I eventually got him to bed, only because I outweighed him 200 to 12!"

Just in case the more slow-witted among his readers fail to grasp the obvious parallel between his relationship with his dog and the type of parenting advice the man as become rich and famous by dispensing, Dobson then lays it explicitly on the line:

"But this is not a book about the discipline of dogs; there is an important moral to my story that is highly relevant to the world of children. JUST AS SURELY AS A DOG WILL OCCASIONALLY CHALLENGE THE AUTHORITY OF HIS LEADERS, SO WILL A LITTLE CHILD -- ONLY MORE SO." (emphasis Dobson's)

Dobson says that his Focus On the Family organization is engaged in a "new civil war" in which the "forces of Light" (child hitters, homophobes, Operation Rescue, would-be censors, etc.) are pitted against the "forces of Darkness" (antispankers, gays and lesbians, Planned Parenthood, free speech advocates, etc.). This man treats dog ownership as a war, he treats childrearing as a war; indeed he appears to see his entire life as a war.

Is this Dr James Dobson beating his own dog with a belt? Is he some child rearing expert? Poor kids..
I turned and went to my closet and got a small belt to help me "reason" with Mr. Freud.
This guy makes me :puke:

:shrug:

What I don't understand is, why didn't he just "pray" the dog out of the bathroom.

Product of religious indoctrination.

Thanks for that info SLAD.

:hi:

Have you thought of putting this in GD? After all, this is the guy who accused SpongeBob of being pro-gay.

:hi:

"I will not taint this home with homoSINuality!" -Dobson

(or something like that)

:hi:

I really think you should post that "whole life is a war" post in Gen. Discussion. The Plaid Adder would probably love to hate reading it.

Chasing a small dog wit a belt? Now we know why Barnie probably runs from the chimp.

book by producing and airing a dramatization of this incident on television. After all he describes it himself in print. How could he possibly object? Think of the dramatic potential. A towering Dr. D. ("outweighed him 200 to 12") with belt in hand, the arm rises and falls, rises and falls, rises and falls, whipping and beating until finally the little dog cowers in the corner.

Seriously, they attack our influential leaders. Turn about is fair play and here the "good" doctor has himself provided the vignette.

Think of all the dachshund lovers in the country, not to mention all the dog lovers. Think of the air play on Hardball, Countdown, etc. Think of Dobson's credibility after a few million people had seen it.

"She broke mah heart, so I busted her jaw," etc.

Eee-haw! :headbang:

"Ima gonna drown my blues in baeer......(yoddling)"


(sorry, country music just isn't country anymore. There is not story behind the song like it used to be in the real country/bluegrass songs, IMHO)

... of actually dealing with their problems, facing their short comings, or going to rehab decided to repress themselves with Jayzus. They think that they can use religion as a fix all and it never works.

When a person marries young with relatively little experience, what someone with more experience would see as a red flag, someone young may miss. Because there is so much that is stressed about keeping sexuality within the bounds of marriage, people may marry when they otherwise would have just had a relationship with the person for a time.

Sometimes that strong "duty" or "covenant" keeps people feeling tied or forced with another person and instead of dealing with their problems, denying them until they are past the point of no return leaving no choice but to end the relationship.

And the required marriage counceling is always with a male church leader who thinks it is "just great" that two young Christians are about to marry and have an nice large family.

Fundamentalist Christians are less likely to have sex before marriage and/or live together before marriage. Some people would break up during that time of a relationship. But if people hop right to marriage, there isn't that extra time before marraige when relationships might break up.

If people compared committed relationships breaking up between fundamentalists and non-religious people, there might be a better comparison of how successful relationships are.

You know, that herd mentality that takes one over the clif.

Dobson should use her as a role model. :eyes:

They have to repeat everything before they understand..

I don't remember being born the first time so I got born AGAIN,
I'm on food coupons after my job got outsourced by the man I voted for in 2000, so I voted for him AGAIN,
my wife ran away from me after I gave her a biblical beating. I'll just have to get married AGAIN..

for a younger female.