Mormon Temple Marriages have only 6% Divorce Rate

[ama49]

Mormon Temple Marriages have only 6% Divorce Rate Grace for Grace

[georgia2]

Well. I'm that 6%! Since we are in the latter days, it is happening more and more.

[checkerboy]

I am glad to be part of that elite 6% myself. Woohoo!! Finally something that I am in the top of.

[funkymonkey]

Um I don't know if I believe this statistic. I know that temple marriages have a lower divorce rate but I don't remember it being that low. From the articles I've read in the past divorce rates are higher than they have ever been for temple marriages.

Maybe a little more research on this number would be a good idea...?

[Moksha]

That unusually low number does sound suspect.

[prisonchaplain]

I'm not sure about the statistic, but we can hope that when young people go through the rough patches of marriage, the promises they have made, and the belief that have in eternal marriage, and the social pressure...that these will help them to stick it out, and not give up so easily.

On the other hand, when the marriage must fail, due to one partner's failure (abuse, cheating, abandonment, etc.), then is mercy, understanding, and 'bearing one another's burdens" harder to come by? No answers...most churches struggle with this...if we make it too comfortable, are we encouraging divorce? But, if we are too focused on keeping the standards high (and the rates low), do we neglect those who need help?

[MarginOfError]

I'm afraid I find this a little hard to swallow as well. I've heard various numbers of LDS divorce rates, with the general rate ranging anywhere from the 24% here to 40%. The 6% for temple marriages also seems a bit low to me. Especially since it implies a 75% divorce rate among non-temple marriages.

Unfortunately, your links to this study didn't work, so I can't do a real critique of the research. Could you try posting the link to the research again?

[ama49]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the confusion of the link to the study. Like I say in the post, it's an older study done in 2000, but the link to the study that says temple marriages have only a 6% divorce rate is updated....

[RachelleDrew]

I can't say that I believe it's that low. If that's the case, my area is making up that entire 6%.

[Rico]

Are those stats for the entire church or just the US? I suspect the divorce is lower outside the US. For example, there is no divorce in the Philippines so very, very few temple marriages end in divorce.

It also probably doesn't count those who went inactive before they got divorced since they'd have no reason to report that their temple marriage resulted in a divorce.

[Maya]

It was in 2000 and I believe that after that the devorces in the church have increased enormously.

[georgia2]

It seems this statistic is from the time I first joined the church which was 30 years ago! I was true then....

[Maureen]

I found this information:

Divorce rates:

Brigham Young University professor Daniel K. Judd computed in the year 2000 that only 6% of those Mormons who marry in a temple ceremony subsequently go through a temple divorce. This is a small fraction of the rate in the general American population. 3 Unfortunately, the value may not be accurate:

Most Mormons who have their marriage sealed in a temple ceremony and who subsequently divorce do so in a civil ceremony. This avoids the rather complex temple "cancellation of sealing" (divorce) procedures. Thus, their divorce is not counted in the above figure.

Some Mormons marry in a temple ceremony, divorce in a civil procedure and subsequently remarry in a second temple ceremony. This would count as two temple marriages and zero temple divorces -- thus reducing the apparent divorce rate.

Overall, the Mormon divorce rate appears to be no different from the average American divorce rate. A 1999 study by Barna Research of nearly 4,000 U.S. adults showed that 24% of Mormon marriages end in divorce -- a number statistically equal to the divorce rate among all Americans. 5 Members of non-denominational churches (typically Fundamentalist in teaching) and born-again Christians experience a significantly higher divorce rate; Agnostics and Atheists have much a lower rate. 6 More info.

This data is supported by an earlier study the National Survey of Families and Households. It found that about 26% of both Mormons and non-Mormons had experienced at least one divorce at some time during their life.

This simple statistic obscures an interesting factor: Mormons who marry fellow believers have an extremely low divorce rate:

"A 1993 study published in Demography [magazine] showed that Mormons marrying within their church are least likely of all Americans to become divorced. Only 13 percent of LDS couples have divorced after five years of marriage, compared with 20 percent for religiously homogamist unions among Catholics and Protestants and 27 percent among Jews. However, when a Mormon marries outside his or her denomination, the divorce rate soars to 40 percent -- second only to mixed-faith marriages involving a Jewish spouse (42 percent)." 7

One might speculate that the religious and cultural differences between Mormons and non-Mormons (and between Jews and non-Jews) is often so great that the chances of a successful, harmonious marriage are much reduced.

DIVORCE AND THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS (MORMONS)

M.

[georgia2]

If this is the case, my divorce didn't count. I DID GET a DIVORCE (THANK GOODNESS) but before I was sealed to my second husband my seal was broken to my first. Any woman who remarries CANNOT be sealed a second time unless the first is broken. From what I understand this also goes for men now too. This is in the even of divorce and not a death of the first wife.

[kona0197]

I wonder about the stats as to how many can not marry due to the stupid social security laws?

[checkerboy]

I wonder about the stats as to how many can not marry due to the stupid social security laws?

Please explain.

[funkymonkey]

OK, so this is off topic...

Kona... you guys file your taxes separately right? If you choose to get married, you can still file them separate and you get the same perks. McCain and his wife do this every year. You don't have to file jointly.

And if something comes up and something happens to you, you (or your spouse) will be better protected under SS dissability as a couple rather than as individuals.

[MarginOfError]

Maureen, I read some of that same stuff, and I wasn't convinced that there was any validity to a lot of it. It seemed like the author was just trying to come up with possible reasons the 6% statistic could be wrong, without actually investigating how divorce was defined in Judd's study.

Don't get me wrong, I think this 6% statistic is completely bogus. One of the big reasons I think so is I cannot find anything by Judd to define his parameters. It wreaks of the scent of hiding crappy research (I smell a lot of that in my work). I did locate an mp3 of the talk in which he presented this statistic, but I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. I'll get back to you when I do.

[Maureen]

If this is the case, my divorce didn't count. I DID GET a DIVORCE (THANK GOODNESS) but before I was sealed to my second husband my seal was broken to my first. Any woman who remarries CANNOT be sealed a second time unless the first is broken. From what I understand this also goes for men now too. This is in the even of divorce and not a death of the first wife.

When one has been granted a civil divorce after his temple sealing, he must be cleared by the First Presidency before he can be granted a temple recommend by his bishop. After a divorce clearance has been granted by the First Presidency, an application for a cancellation of the temple sealing might be made to the president of the Church. Normally it is the woman who seeks a cancellation of sealing. Since a woman cannot be sealed to two men at the same time, she must have a cancellation of sealing from one before she can be sealed to another.

From what I understand, the man requests a clearance of sealing but the woman must request a cancellation of sealing. The man can be sealed to two women, even though he might be civilly divorced from one of them.

[funkymonkey]

Um, I understood they changed that policy about 10 years ago so that it doesn't matter if you're a guy or a girl...you get divorced and you want to remarry someone else, you need to cancel the sealing with the first wife.

Am I wrong??

[georgia2]

whether he has been sealed to two women, if he got a divorce from the first here, it will NEVER be valid in the eternities. If you can't make it here, this goes for people who are still married but not happily, you will not be together in heaven!

[Elphaba]

Um, I understood they changed that policy about 10 years ago so that it doesn't matter if you're a guy or a girl...you get divorced and you want to remarry someone else, you need to cancel the sealing with the first wife.

Am I wrong??

This is purely anecdotal, but around 1984 a good friend of mine divorced. She was very unhappy about it, but ultimately there was nothing she could do.

She could not even get a temple divorce on her own. Her husband had to approve the temple divorce, but he had the option of saying no. Does anyone know if this was correct procedure, and if so, has it changed?

Likewise, when her husband wanted to remarry, Church authorities wanted her permission for her temple marriage to be dissolved. She gave it.

Again, this was almost 25 years ago or so.

Elphaba

[checkerboy]

This is purely anecdotal, but around 1984 a good friend of mine divorced. She was very unhappy about it, but ultimately there was nothing she could do.

She could not even get a temple divorce on her own. Her husband had to approve the temple divorce, but he had the option of saying no. Does anyone know if this was correct procedure, and if so, has it changed?

Likewise, when her husband wanted to remarry, Church authorities wanted her permission for her temple marriage to be dissolved. She gave it.

Again, this was almost 25 years ago or so.

Elphaba

Last I heard is that the only way that a woman can get a temple divorce is if she is getting sealed to another man in the temple or if their sealing was done under false pretenses (like the guy lied to get his temple recommend.)

My ex was told this by our bishop and she was livid. Hahahaha. I had a good laugh.

[Elphaba]

whether he has been sealed to two women, if he got a divorce from the first here, it will NEVER be valid in the eternities.

Do you mean if he received a civil divorce, or a temple divorce?

If he only received a civil divorce, then his marriage/sealing is still intact.

If you can't make it here, this goes for people who are still married but not happily, you will not be together in heaven!

How could you possibly know that? Anything is possible, and perhaps after both are deceased they may realize they were wrong to be unhappily married, and would be grateful for a proxy marriage.

I am an ex-Mormon, and so don't actually believe this happens. But I remember the procedures I was taught. I'm just going by those, as well as my opinion about "unhappy marriages."

Elphaba

[Elphaba]

Last I heard is that the only way that a woman can get a temple divorce is if she is getting sealed to another man in the temple or if their sealing was done under false pretenses (like the guy lied to get his temple recommend.)

That was my friend's experience as well. So am I wrong that the husband has to receive permission from the wife for the dissolution of the sealing/marriage?

My ex was told this by our bishop and she was livid. Hahahaha. I had a good laugh.

If it were anyone but you Checker, I'd be lecturing you until the board was flooded.

But when you wrote it, I laughed. A lot.

Elphie