do atheistic marriages ruin the sanctity of marriage?

Question

im asking this because

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm

a barna (independant company, often serving christian groups) survey found that atheists/agnostics had the lowest divorce rates while conservative christian couples had one of the highest.

(note atheists side along with catholics and lutherans at around 21%)
(then again, roman catholics dont recognise divorce that well :/ )

although causation doesnt mean correlation as perhaps atheist couples are better off (more educated/better job, hence better financial security) im just saying.

homosexuals would probably have a rate of divorce far lower then any of the groups there.

why do some think that a certain group marrying ruins the sanctity of marriage?

*btw, im sure people will begin spouting "They werent true christians" but with the estranged way of defining what a "true christian is" i highly doubt it is a massive atheist propaganda that involves masquerading as christians. the fact that the south have much higher rates seems to show that the bible belt isnt as good as the nasty liberals of massachusetts who with their high catholic and atheist/agnostic pops result in a lower divorce rate compared to other states...

doesnt anyone else think that those that criticise homosexuality for ruining the sanctity of marriage watch out? one day out of sheer irony and glee i will tell the conservative christians that they are ruining the sanctity of marriage with their higher divorce rates.

/end rant

-Friendly Neighbourhood Atheist.
(feel free to google for other stats if you dont believe me, using a churchs homepage as a source isnt exactly a good place to get honest statistics from.)

Answer 1

if you marriage is seriously threatened by other people getting married (whether they are atheists, gay people or whatever) then you're marriage obviously isn't very solid to begin with



tv shows like the bachelor have already shown how shallow marriage is nowadays..

Answer 2

No. Atheist marriages do not "ruin" the sanctity of marriage. Marriage between a man and a woman is part of God's "Common Grace." It is something He gives to all -- just as He made earth a planet -- very likely the only planet -- with the means to sustain human life. Marriage, like air, is God's gift, God's intention.



Divorce rates ... this data is skewed somewhat by the fact that Christians may be less likely to live together outside of marriage. Every time a couple cohabits, and then dissolves such a union, should be included in divorce statistics. As the Bible says, "the two shall become one flesh."



Lutherans do divorce less. That's a fact. It is harder to ascertain whether atheists divorce less. Who's to say whether one is an atheist or not? Maybe some of the atheists are a little bit agnostic -- maybe even a little bit Lutheran!



Lutherans -- and my state is 35 percent Lutheran -- tend to be Scandinavian. Maybe the question needs to be, "Do Scandinavians divorce less?" There are cultural as well as religious reasons for staying married. As Americans lost touch with family roots, there was less accountability to the group. Scandinavian heritage certainly helps maintain that accountability. Lutherans marry Lutherans, and that makes for a pretty solid bond. Thank God for the Lutherans!



What about homosexuals? I remember the bath house period -- those heady days when a gay man considered it bragging rights to claim he had had sex with more than a thousand partners. AIDS changed all that, didn't it ... My own brother was an early victim. I don't think we'd be talking about gay marriage all that much today if it had not been for AIDS -- and the band would just play on.



Gay marriage will not "destroy" the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. Sanctification is of God, not the Legislature or Congress or the Courts.

Answer 3

When I heard about homosexual men getting married and leading happy, socially constructive lives, I said to myself 'That's torn it, the sanctity of marriage just flew out the window on a burst of 80's high energy music!'

I called for my wife to tell her that there was no point being married if the institution was to shared with gay men, and we should file for a divorce in protest. However on pointing this out to my wife, I was shocked to discover that Mrs Numbnuts was none other than a man, a female impersonator named Priscilla, Queen of the Suburbs!

The real Mrs Numbnuts had absconded 3 years ago with the true love of her life, Mrs Thistlewaite from 3 doors down. She had procured Priscilla, nee Edward, for an undisclosed fee to impersonate her and so distract me from noticing (very successfully I may add) her absence. He/she was only meant to keep up the deception for 48 hours, but it turns out that Priscilla took a fancy to domestic bliss and so delayed the inevitable scandal of divorce and having my good name dragged through the drag queen circuit!

So now with Priscilla as my common law wife/husband, there are 2 Mr Numbuts as well as an absent Mrs Numbnuts.

Answer 4

"why do some think that a certain group marrying ruins the sanctity of marriage?"



It's called fascism, being judgmental, bigotry, discrimination, etc. The Christians who say such blatantly uneducated things, are probably the some ones who hate gay people and think the earth is flat.



I wouldn't worry about it too much. Their opinions don't really matter in the real world.

Answer 5

I'm an atheist and I actually couldn't care less if the 'sanctity of marriage' is affected.



Marriage is just a ritual, that's different wherever you go. Its a nice occasion that creates an emotional and legal bond between a couple.



That is it.



Now people stop whinging about its sanctity.

Answer 6

I'd rather take entire institutions, like marriage, on a case by case basis than go by statistics, which can be dubious at best. The sanctity of marriage concerns and depends only on the two people involved in it.

Answer 7

To further your study, you might be interested to know that atheists are less likely to marry at all. Christians tend to marry more often than nonreligious people.



Atheists have a higher rate of living together. According to Time Magazine, couples who live together have a "break-up" rate of 75%



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This is your opinion. Not a fact, just a guess. I don't think anyone can guess as to whether or not a particular group may or may not have a higher rate of divorce. We do know, that in the homosexual community, the rate of promiscuity is higher than in the heterosexual community, so if anything that would indicate the possibility of a higher rate of divorce if allowed to marry.



http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=IS04C02



Marriage was given us by God from the very beginning. He created male and female, and they became one flesh. It is a covenant, not just a legal contract. It mirrors the relationship of Christ to his Church, and that relationship is procreative. Homosexual marriage cannot never be this, therefore it undermines the sanctity of marriage.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Atheists base their marriages on sound practical considerations.



Religious people base their marriages on emotion based belief systems.



Which sounds like a better foundation for a lasting marriage to you?

Answer 10

@"atheists/agnostics had the lowest divorce rates while conservative christian couples had one of the highest."





Because they are not concerned about one another's fate. They're just in the relationship for the now.



The Believer's relationship is different because we include The Heavenly Father and if something isn't right between the two of us, we take it to Him in prayer.



So, what they last.....only here on earth.

That's nothing.

Answer 11

I sure hope so.



It just means I'm doing that much more to tick off the religious right.

Answer 12

marriage is a civil ceremony and always has been. religion was brought into marriage, not marriage brought into religion. you have to pay for the license.

Answer 13

Atheists have great relationships because we will never fight over religions. We will love each other for who we are

Answer 14

ah it doesnt matter

truth is not something that christianty as a religion bothers with

Answer 15

There's nothing holy or sacred about marriage. There's nothing holy or sacred about anything, in fact.

Answer 16

As long as they stick to the basic terms of marriage - man and woman, no extramarital affair - they're ok.



Sanctity has to do with God. Only God is holy and things sanctioned by Him are holy.