Actually they had to cherry pick to get the number so good (H/T Kate):
The various findings on religion and divorce hinge on what kind of Christians are being discussed.
Wright combed through the General Social Survey, a vast demographic study conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, and found that Christians, like adherents of other religions, have a divorce rate of about 42%. The rate among religiously unaffiliated Americans is 50%.
When Wright examined the statistics on evangelicals, he found worship attendance has a big influence on the numbers. Six in 10 evangelicals who never attend had been divorced or separated, compared to just 38% of weekly attendees.
Even better, Glenn T. Stanton from the Baptist Press:
THE TAKE-AWAY
The divorce rates of Christian believers are not identical to the general population — not even close. Being a committed, faithful believer makes a measurable difference in marriage.
…Faith does matter and the leading sociologists of family and religion tell us so.
Really? That is the take away? I can only imagine the reaction if Glenn T. Stanton found that something important failed 38% of the time.
Marriage as an institution won’t survive with a 38% failure rate, let alone a church which sees a 38% divorce rate as something to brag about.
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