Hello and welcome to
Heaven's Point of View.
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Our Series is on Love,
Marriage, Sex, and Divorce
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from the New
Testament perspective.
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Our featured Host
is Dr. Tom Sheperd.
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He is the Professor of
New Testament Interpretation
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at Andrews University.
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He is the
Director for the Ph. D.
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and Th. D.
Programs in that arena there
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and he is also an MPH and
Doctor of Public Health as well.
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So, you just wear a
number of hats don't you?
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Yes and in this Series we
kind of combine this again,
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most of our focus is
on what the Scriptures say
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but we also take a look at
what some of the statistics are
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about marriage,
about sexual experience,
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about divorce
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so that people
understand some of the gravity
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of the problems
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and get an idea of the
changes that are taking place
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in our Society.
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Yes and today we're
going to talk about divorce
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and look at it
statistically and Biblically.
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Right.
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So, let's take a look at it,
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it's a huge problem
in the United States.
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I'm afraid that it is, now,
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people who live
in other countries
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who are watching these programs
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can check material
from their own country
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and see what the
results are and where things are
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but we've put
together, for this program,
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a series of charts,
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I know sometimes people
may not like statistics,
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I don't know, when I
studied in Public Health
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we had to do a lot
of Statistics' studying,
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I kind of like Statistics,
it's sort of fun to look at
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and try to figure
out what's going on
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and so, that's
some of what we do here,
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but before we
approach the statistics
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and look at
those kinds of figures,
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I want to stress that we are
Christians talking about this
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and that we are
called to minister to people
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in whatever situation
they find themselves in life.
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In this last
section of this series
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we're looking at
the question of divorce
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and that's such a
sad, sad experience
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but there is
light, there is hope,
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and the church is called to
minister and to help the people
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and actually,
seeing these statistics
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is, what shall I say,
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maybe kind of a
helpful "wakeup call"
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to the church to say,
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"Wow! this is a major
problem in our Society,"
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and our church tends to
reflect the Society around it
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and make up, we
should take this seriously,
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we should not just focus
attention only on married people
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or only on young people,
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we need to think
about people who are single,
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we need to think about
people who are divorced
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and have programs in the
church to support them. "
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When we said that
having... the other time...
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that having church affiliation
helps people not get divorced,
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there's a reason for that,
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I mean, the wonderful
teachings of the Bible
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but also in connection with
that... the community of faith
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that that has developed
also creates a network of people
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sort of a safety net to
keep you from going off.
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And that's so important, I
mean, I'm a divorced person
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and divorce is
never an easy process
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and if you're a Christian,
it's not an easy journey
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because you
know what God expects
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and yet, you are
in a certain situation
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so it is important
to have that network,
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that safety net,
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that family of
support around you
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because the journey in divorce
is a difficult one for everyone.
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I'd like to say
here that in the church
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I think, we need to make some
changes in the way we approach
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and think about these issues
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because
sometimes what happens is
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well, whenever I
think divorce occurs...
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it's something that
people feel bad about,
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it's an issue of shame for
people who've gone through it
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and shame is hard to deal with
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and so what happens is
people tend to drift away,
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they tend to back
off from the church,
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maybe they go to
a different church
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and if there's another
church in the area, that's...
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at least they have
a place they can go,
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but we need to be
watching for people
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and supporting them and say,
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"You know, we're sorry that
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this happened to
you but you know what?
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We still love you and we
still know that God loves you
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and don't worry... this isn't
the end of your Christian life,
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this isn't the end of the
road, don't give up hope. "
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You know, it's so
important Dr. Sheperd because
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when I had... well
even... at the time...
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I was probably
contemplating divorce
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but hadn't gotten there yet
and I remember being at church
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and a lady just came
up to me and she said,
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"You look like you
could use a friend. "
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Yeah.
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And... it was... it
so profoundly touched me
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because I did need a friend
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because I was going
through a really dark time
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and that's what our
church family can offer
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that kind of support...
not necessarily taking sides
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or ostracizing one
of the two partners
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but just being
there as a support
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and praying for that person
that's going through that time.
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We have to realize that
when people go through this,
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it is so stressful,
it's like major illness
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it's like losing a family
member it is so deeply stressful
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and if you've never had
deep stress in your life,
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you're not as sensitive,
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but if you've had
any kind of deep stress,
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illness, loss of a loved one,
some of these kinds of things
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or divorce in your experience
of... or in a family member,
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you're sensitized to it more
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and we just need to be open to
the Holy Spirit speaking to us
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and saying, "I think
you should support them
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maybe invite them
over for lunch or something
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or go pray with them"
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and it can be so
encouraging to people
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and sometimes... it's
such small little things.
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Just that small
thing stayed in my heart
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all these years, "I
think you need a friend. "
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Yeah... yeah...
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So, I didn't
mean to digress but...
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so what do the statistics say
about divorce in the Country?
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Okay, yeah, so we
should take a look at it,
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the first... we
have these charts...
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and the first one shows the
difference and the comparison
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between the marriage
rate and the divorce rate
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in the United States
between 2000 and 2007
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and when you look at
this chart, you notice that
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the divorce rate is about half
of what the marriage rate is
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okay, so, this gets...
quite a few people will say,
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they'll look at that
kind of chart and they'll say,
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"Wow! that must mean that
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50 percent of the
marriages end in divorce. "
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In fact, I've heard that.
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Yeah, yeah, well, actually,
when you look at this statistic,
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you can't draw that
conclusion from this statistic.
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Now, why is that?
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Well, this rate of divorce...
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of marriage rate
and of divorce rate...
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shows you the number
of people per thousand
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or per hundred thousand
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that are getting
married or divorced each year,
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the problem is, they are
two different populations
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okay, so, you're either
married or you're not married.
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Right, like... either
pregnant or you're not pregnant
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right... right...
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So, the people getting
married, are all getting married
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from people who are
not married, obviously,
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okay, the people who
are getting divorced,
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are people who
are getting divorced
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from the group
that is married. Ahh...
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So, you have two
different groups of populations
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and you're actually
looking at a static figure
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as to what happens
at a particular time.
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Now, fortunately, when
most people in a marriage,
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they stay there
for at least some time,
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a number of years,
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and many people... a
good number of years,
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and so to say that
the divorce rate is at...
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four per thousand
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or that the marriage
rate is eight per thousand,
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just tells you the
rate of what's going on
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from the whole number
of... all the population
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but the two groups are coming
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from two separate
parts of the population.
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So, if you look
at the next chart,
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it shows you the actual numbers
of marriages and divorces
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and you see that,
typically we have...
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in between 2 and
2.3 million divorces
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in the United States
each year, on the other hand,
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the chart after that
shows a figure of about 850,000
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or so, of people
getting divorces or annulments
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or even up to 950,000
over the same period of time
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or approximate period of time,
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now if you look at
those statistics carefully,
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you would see that the total
population groups were different
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there is about 300 million
people in the marriage group
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that were listed and about
240, 230... in the divorce group
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and people will
say, "Why is that,
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has the population of the
United States suddenly changed?"
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No, it's that some
States don't report.
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Ahhh...
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Now, there are a number of
health statistics that are...
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we have in the United States
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and we find that
there are certain States,
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for various reasons, will
not report what's happening
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and in this case, it's divorce,
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when it comes to abortion,
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there has been
a series of States
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that just... they
don't report them anymore
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and I'm afraid, not
for public health reasons,
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it's for political
reasons that they don't do so,
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Hmmm... hmmm... Right...
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So that leads us on to our
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our, our, our, next data,
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so, just because
half the marriages...
00:10:01.30\00:10:04.07
the divorce rate
and the marriage rate
00:10:04.10\00:10:06.77
are about half of each
other, doesn't mean that
00:10:06.80\00:10:10.87
half the marriages
are ending in divorce.
00:10:10.91\00:10:13.51
There are two
different populations
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so it really doesn't tell you
but we can get some better idea
00:10:15.54\00:10:19.38
when we look at...
yet some other Stats...
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okay, so, now we come to
the slide that talks about
00:10:22.68\00:10:27.89
the percentage of the
United States population
00:10:27.92\00:10:31.59
that is married, and
it's rather interesting,
00:10:31.63\00:10:35.26
it's been dropping. Hmmm...
00:10:35.30\00:10:38.77
Back in 1970, about 70 percent
00:10:38.80\00:10:42.20
of the U.S.
population was married.
00:10:42.24\00:10:44.11
By 1990, it had dropped
to just over 60 percent,
00:10:44.14\00:10:48.74
and by 2002, it had dropped
to just under 60 percent.
00:10:48.78\00:10:53.48
Hmmm... Right...
00:10:53.52\00:10:54.85
So you have a drop of about...
00:10:54.88\00:10:57.15
about ten percent of
the number of people...
00:10:57.19\00:11:00.06
the percentage of
people that are married.
00:11:00.09\00:11:02.86
So why do you think that
people are getting married less?
00:11:02.89\00:11:05.19
Ah, well, there's any
kinds of number of Stats
00:11:05.23\00:11:10.63
that are causing it,
00:11:10.67\00:11:12.00
now, if we actually
look at the next slide,
00:11:12.03\00:11:14.17
the percentage of the
United States population
00:11:14.20\00:11:16.00
that is divorced...
00:11:16.04\00:11:17.37
this is really
kind of more shocking,
00:11:17.41\00:11:19.47
people not getting married...
well that's one thing...
00:11:19.54\00:11:22.44
but people getting divorced...
00:11:22.48\00:11:24.78
the percentage of the population
that's divorced has been rising,
00:11:24.81\00:11:28.18
back in 1980, it was
at about six percent,
00:11:28.22\00:11:31.75
in 1990, it was eight percent,
in 2002, it was ten percent.
00:11:31.79\00:11:37.59
Hmmm...
00:11:37.63\00:11:38.96
Now, the previous
Stats that I gave you
00:11:38.99\00:11:41.70
about that percentages of
the population that were married
00:11:41.73\00:11:45.13
was... in about...
00:11:45.17\00:11:46.84
well, in the first one
it was about 20-year gap
00:11:46.87\00:11:49.70
from 1970 to 1990
00:11:49.74\00:11:51.34
and then another 12
years from 1990 to 2002
00:11:51.37\00:11:55.34
but the percentages of
the U.S. population divorced
00:11:55.38\00:11:58.18
is in about ten-year intervals
going from 1980 to 1990 to 2002
00:11:58.21\00:12:03.89
so you go from
six to eight to ten,
00:12:03.92\00:12:06.76
Hmmm... hmmm...
00:12:06.79\00:12:08.12
That is striking. It is.
00:12:08.16\00:12:10.19
We have about 300
million people in this Country,
00:12:10.23\00:12:13.73
about 300 million is about the
population of the United States,
00:12:13.76\00:12:17.07
when you say that ten
percent of the population...
00:12:17.10\00:12:20.20
well, that's 30 million
people who are now divorced.
00:12:20.24\00:12:24.27
Wow! it's much easier
to get divorced now-a-days
00:12:24.31\00:12:28.28
than it used to be.
00:12:28.31\00:12:29.68
I'm afraid so.
00:12:29.71\00:12:31.25
And we had...
on Dare to Dream...
00:12:31.28\00:12:33.92
we had a sermon on
"Grounds for Marriage"
00:12:33.95\00:12:39.82
instead of "Grounds for Divorce"
it was "Grounds for Marriage"
00:12:39.85\00:12:44.43
and the Preacher
was saying, essentially,
00:12:44.46\00:12:47.60
and it was at Andrews,
in fact, but he was saying
00:12:47.63\00:12:51.77
that it's much easier to
just get into marriage now
00:12:51.80\00:12:55.77
and harder... I mean...
00:12:55.80\00:12:57.14
it's easier to get divorced
than it is to get married,
00:12:57.17\00:13:00.68
so people are rushing...
00:13:00.71\00:13:04.85
some people are
rushing into marriage
00:13:04.88\00:13:06.75
and then they get
married and they find out,
00:13:06.78\00:13:09.58
"Oh! this is not what I wanted"
00:13:09.62\00:13:11.25
and then
they're ready to get out
00:13:11.29\00:13:12.82
and they can get
out much more easily,
00:13:12.85\00:13:14.66
you know, Society fosters that.
00:13:14.72\00:13:16.76
And actually, we should not
make it easy to get divorced
00:13:16.79\00:13:21.16
because divorce
destabilizes the Community
00:13:21.20\00:13:24.33
and it creates
lot of trouble for...
00:13:24.40\00:13:27.70
particularly for women and
for children, now, we can say
00:13:27.74\00:13:31.31
"That's just not
fair, it's just not right"
00:13:31.34\00:13:33.01
but that's the
reality of what happens.
00:13:33.04\00:13:34.38
It is.
00:13:34.41\00:13:35.74
And so, people who plan
for Society and the Church,
00:13:35.78\00:13:40.12
we have a role
in promoting things
00:13:40.15\00:13:42.62
should try to do
things that help stabilize
00:13:42.65\00:13:44.85
and protect the
vulnerable in our Society
00:13:44.89\00:13:47.59
and in our
Society, it is still true
00:13:47.62\00:13:50.49
that the more vulnerable
groups are women and children
00:13:50.53\00:13:54.50
and the poor and we should
do things to help these people,
00:13:54.53\00:13:58.47
now there are several
changes in our Society
00:13:58.53\00:14:00.37
that have helped to
foster some of these changes,
00:14:00.40\00:14:03.30
where there are fewer
people getting married,
00:14:03.34\00:14:06.21
there's more
divorce taking place,
00:14:06.24\00:14:08.61
the development of
effective treatments
00:14:08.64\00:14:12.48
for sexually
transmitted diseases
00:14:12.51\00:14:17.39
has removed much of the
fear of sex outside of marriage
00:14:17.42\00:14:21.22
and so, people don't always feel
00:14:21.26\00:14:23.66
that they need to get
married in order to have sex,
00:14:23.69\00:14:26.43
we've already had
quite a bit of discussions
00:14:26.46\00:14:30.03
about sex in these programs,
and we can just reiterate
00:14:30.07\00:14:33.80
that while... it's wonderful
to have good treatments
00:14:33.84\00:14:37.54
for sexually
transmitted diseases,
00:14:37.57\00:14:39.61
I'm not opposed to
treating those diseases,
00:14:39.64\00:14:41.74
I think it's
important to treat them
00:14:41.81\00:14:43.35
and as a Public
Health Training guy,
00:14:43.38\00:14:44.85
I'm like, "You know you
need to find out who is infected
00:14:44.88\00:14:47.75
and you need to
get them treated,"
00:14:47.78\00:14:49.58
because these
diseases can become
00:14:49.62\00:14:51.75
more and more
resistant to treatment.
00:14:51.79\00:14:53.25
Absolutely.
00:14:53.29\00:14:54.62
But effective treatments
have decreased the fears
00:14:54.66\00:14:58.06
of having sex
outside of marriage,
00:14:58.09\00:15:00.70
then there's the development
of the Birth Control Pill
00:15:00.73\00:15:03.30
which... about 50 years
ago also became effective
00:15:03.33\00:15:07.87
methods of contraception
00:15:07.90\00:15:09.24
and you could have sex
outside of marriage without fear
00:15:09.27\00:15:12.14
that you were going to
become pregnant, pretty much,
00:15:12.17\00:15:15.01
and... so that
also helped to foster
00:15:15.04\00:15:18.61
more promiscuous...
00:15:18.68\00:15:20.72
I mean, it doesn't
foster it in the sense
00:15:20.75\00:15:23.92
so people have to choose it,
00:15:23.99\00:15:25.32
but it makes it a
little bit more of an option
00:15:25.35\00:15:27.49
available to them
00:15:27.56\00:15:28.89
then there's the
economic independence of women
00:15:28.92\00:15:30.83
which has given
them more opportunities
00:15:30.86\00:15:34.16
to depend on themselves
instead of on a marriage
00:15:34.20\00:15:37.20
in order to have a home,
00:15:37.27\00:15:38.60
and then the
rapid rise in abortion
00:15:38.63\00:15:41.30
making it possible for unwanted
pregnancies to be terminated.
00:15:41.34\00:15:44.64
Now, the first three
of these, we all applaud,
00:15:44.67\00:15:47.94
we say, "Good
treatment for disease," amen.
00:15:47.98\00:15:51.25
We say, "birth control," of
course, you should be able to
00:15:51.28\00:15:53.68
you know, plan your family out
00:15:53.72\00:15:56.22
and the "economic independence"
of women... sure... fine...
00:15:56.25\00:16:00.32
"abortion," we know we as
Christians have issues with that
00:16:00.36\00:16:03.56
that this is, life
begins at conception
00:16:03.59\00:16:06.09
and that we should
protect the unborn,
00:16:06.13\00:16:08.56
but, all these, except
the last, we recognize as
00:16:08.60\00:16:12.10
advances and good in our Society
00:16:12.13\00:16:14.04
and tending
towards... actually...
00:16:14.07\00:16:15.90
they have tended to push
00:16:15.94\00:16:17.37
in the direction of
fewer people getting married.
00:16:17.41\00:16:20.31
So, there you have the
decrease in the marriage rate.
00:16:20.34\00:16:23.21
Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm...
00:16:23.24\00:16:24.58
But the increase in the
number of people divorced
00:16:24.61\00:16:27.65
also suggests that
somehow our Society's view
00:16:27.68\00:16:30.85
of divorce has shifted and
the idea of staying married
00:16:30.89\00:16:34.86
has shifted and that
creates other problems.
00:16:34.89\00:16:38.89
So, we should also note
several other marital statistics
00:16:38.93\00:16:46.00
I just have a few more to share,
00:16:46.03\00:16:47.37
24 percent of the population
has never been married before.
00:16:47.40\00:16:51.24
That's pretty large.
00:16:51.27\00:16:53.98
Yeah, now, people say,
"Wait a minute, wait a minute
00:16:54.01\00:16:57.71
you said that 60 percent
of the people aren't married,"
00:16:57.75\00:17:01.38
okay, that's about...
00:17:01.42\00:17:02.75
you're saying, 10
percent are married,
00:17:02.78\00:17:04.25
that's... I
guess... it all adds up
00:17:04.29\00:17:05.92
about 35 to 40 percent,
00:17:05.95\00:17:07.56
but I bring this statistic up
00:17:07.59\00:17:10.69
because, we in the
church, tend to focus attention
00:17:10.73\00:17:13.40
on those who are
married, those who have children
00:17:13.43\00:17:16.00
and the singles tend to get
lost in the shuffle some place.
00:17:16.03\00:17:21.67
That's very true.
00:17:21.70\00:17:23.04
Or sometimes, a "Single's Club"
is seen as a place to get...
00:17:23.07\00:17:27.74
to find a spouse, you
know, and there are people who
00:17:27.78\00:17:31.18
for different places in
their life or different times,
00:17:31.21\00:17:34.55
they don't want to get married,
00:17:34.58\00:17:35.92
they're single and they're just
in a situation where they are...
00:17:35.95\00:17:40.29
and to be pressured
by people to do that
00:17:40.32\00:17:43.02
is just kind of
odd and not right.
00:17:43.06\00:17:45.76
That's so true and sometimes
people are insensitive,
00:17:45.79\00:17:48.56
you know, "When are
you getting married?"
00:17:48.60\00:17:49.96
"Why aren't you married yet?"
00:17:50.00\00:17:51.87
You know, especially if the
woman has never been married,
00:17:51.90\00:17:55.54
and she's asked, "When
are you getting married?"
00:17:55.57\00:17:58.81
And the implication is,
00:17:58.84\00:18:00.18
"Something's wrong with you
because you're not married. "
00:18:00.21\00:18:03.48
Well, then we'd have to say
the 25 percent of the population
00:18:03.51\00:18:05.31
has got something
wrong with them, right?
00:18:05.38\00:18:06.92
It's rather a biased
view and it shouldn't be.
00:18:06.98\00:18:10.29
Seven percent of the
population is widowed.
00:18:10.35\00:18:13.66
Hmmm...
00:18:13.69\00:18:15.32
And we need to
think about those people.
00:18:15.36\00:18:16.96
Now, the median age of
first marriage has been rising
00:18:16.99\00:18:20.13
for males it's right
now almost 27-years old,
00:18:20.16\00:18:23.06
for women, it's
25.3 years, okay, so,
00:18:23.10\00:18:27.10
this is a large...
this is a much later
00:18:27.14\00:18:31.07
but people
aren't waiting for sex.
00:18:31.11\00:18:34.14
That's true,
that's what's happening.
00:18:34.18\00:18:36.44
Yeah, that's one
of the big pressures
00:18:36.48\00:18:38.65
you see, back
earlier... it was a shame,
00:18:38.68\00:18:41.68
it was terrible and it was risky
00:18:41.72\00:18:43.05
to have sex outside of
marriage and so you waited
00:18:43.08\00:18:45.89
actually marriages were earlier,
00:18:45.95\00:18:47.39
like early 20s, maybe
even back into the teens,
00:18:47.42\00:18:50.13
okay, but now, with all of these
different methods of presenting
00:18:50.16\00:18:55.13
and preventing pregnancy,
even if you get pregnant,
00:18:55.16\00:18:58.63
dealing with it, of
not having problems with
00:18:58.67\00:19:01.34
sexually
transmitted diseases as much
00:19:01.40\00:19:03.64
people say, "Well, I can
have sex and not get married,"
00:19:03.67\00:19:07.08
now, we also have 5.5 million
00:19:07.14\00:19:09.68
unmarried
couples living together
00:19:09.71\00:19:12.35
I mean, that's a
11 million people.
00:19:12.38\00:19:14.95
That's a whole lot of people,
00:19:14.98\00:19:19.02
and 89 percent of the unmarried
couples living together
00:19:19.05\00:19:21.79
are male/female couples,
so some are same sex, as well,
00:19:21.82\00:19:24.53
and so, these statistics are...
00:19:24.56\00:19:27.50
are... are...
are rather striking,
00:19:27.53\00:19:29.43
we have the
percentage listed here as well
00:19:29.46\00:19:33.00
of married people who
reach a marriage anniversary
00:19:33.03\00:19:36.91
and if you look at that table,
00:19:36.94\00:19:38.67
you'll see that
has been dropping
00:19:38.71\00:19:40.18
oh well, it drops off,
00:19:40.21\00:19:41.88
the fifth anniversary... about
80 percent of people reach that,
00:19:41.91\00:19:45.15
tenth anniversary...
about 60-some people...
00:19:45.18\00:19:50.22
65 percent reach that,
00:19:50.29\00:19:52.09
fifteenth year... it's at
about the 50 percent level
00:19:52.12\00:19:55.02
so, some people will say,
00:19:55.06\00:19:57.03
"Well then, are
half of the marriages
00:19:57.06\00:20:00.40
ending in divorce anyways,
is that within the outcome?"
00:20:00.43\00:20:03.93
Well, I wish we could
tell that from this...
00:20:03.97\00:20:06.57
from this
statistic, but the problem is
00:20:06.60\00:20:09.30
when you get to
the 15th anniversary,
00:20:09.34\00:20:12.01
there'll be... many
people are still living
00:20:12.04\00:20:15.01
but some will have
died, not so many...
00:20:15.04\00:20:17.95
not so many,
00:20:17.98\00:20:19.31
25th wedding anniversary...
only 30 percent reach that,
00:20:19.35\00:20:21.88
35th anniversary...
20 percent reach that
00:20:21.92\00:20:25.62
and the 50th anniversary...
00:20:25.65\00:20:26.99
only about 5 percent
reach the 50th anniversary.
00:20:27.02\00:20:28.79
Now, that's not
because they all got divorced,
00:20:28.82\00:20:31.16
that is because by
the 50th Anniversary
00:20:31.19\00:20:33.40
most people are in
their 70s or 80s or something
00:20:33.46\00:20:35.83
and they're just...
00:20:35.86\00:20:38.07
both spouses didn't
survive till that time
00:20:38.13\00:20:40.47
but it's still obvious
when you look at the statistic
00:20:40.54\00:20:43.67
that there's a huge problem
00:20:43.71\00:20:47.11
in our Country with divorce
and that's what our big point is
00:20:47.14\00:20:51.25
in this presentation,
00:20:51.28\00:20:52.68
is that there's a very
large problem with divorce,
00:20:52.71\00:20:55.55
one more statistic, no
I guess I got two more...
00:20:55.58\00:20:58.69
the percentage of people
who have ever been married
00:20:58.72\00:21:01.82
is listed in...
00:21:01.86\00:21:03.19
and for most people by the time
they reach their mid-fifties,
00:21:03.22\00:21:07.10
95 percent of the
people have been married
00:21:07.16\00:21:09.83
at one time or another
00:21:09.86\00:21:11.50
by the time they
reach in their mid-fifties,
00:21:11.53\00:21:13.23
now for a lot of people
00:21:13.30\00:21:14.64
that would be about
their 30th wedding anniversary
00:21:14.67\00:21:16.60
and if you go back
to the previous slide,
00:21:16.64\00:21:19.24
you'll notice that at
the 35th wedding anniversary,
00:21:19.27\00:21:22.88
only 20 percent of
the people reach that
00:21:22.94\00:21:25.35
so, there's a fair bit of
divorce going on, I'm afraid,
00:21:25.38\00:21:30.29
a fair bit of divorce,
00:21:30.32\00:21:31.92
the very last
chart that I have is...
00:21:31.95\00:21:35.42
the probability of a
first-marriage disruption
00:21:35.46\00:21:37.96
within ten years
by Marriage Cohort,
00:21:37.99\00:21:41.26
now that is such a
mouthful to look at that chart
00:21:41.30\00:21:45.90
what in the world
does this chart mean?
00:21:45.93\00:21:49.34
Okay, a birth... a
Marriage Cohort means
00:21:49.37\00:21:52.67
a group of people who got
married at a particular time.
00:21:52.71\00:21:55.34
Okay. Okay...
00:21:55.38\00:21:57.18
So, if you look at the
chart, you'll see that it has...
00:21:57.25\00:22:00.52
it breaks them into like four...
four- or- five-year segments,
00:22:00.55\00:22:04.92
there's 1950 to
1954, 1955 to 1959,
00:22:04.95\00:22:08.86
1960 to 1964 and so
on up to 1980 to 1984...
00:22:08.89\00:22:11.83
these are the people
that got married at this time,
00:22:11.86\00:22:14.70
how likely was
it within ten years
00:22:14.73\00:22:18.33
that their marriage
would split up, okay,
00:22:18.37\00:22:21.44
and this is divided
between whites and blacks,
00:22:21.47\00:22:24.11
okay, so we
notice that in the 1950s,
00:22:24.14\00:22:27.58
for people being
married for ten years,
00:22:27.61\00:22:31.75
the percentage for
white couples was 13
00:22:31.78\00:22:35.88
and for black couples was 24,
00:22:35.92\00:22:37.72
sadly that black couples is
00:22:37.75\00:22:39.49
always higher
than the white couples,
00:22:39.52\00:22:41.46
this is not to say there's
any racial kind of thing here
00:22:41.49\00:22:44.56
somebody is better than
somebody else or something,
00:22:44.59\00:22:47.66
there are stresses
on different people
00:22:47.70\00:22:49.80
in different parts of Society
00:22:49.83\00:22:51.17
that play a lot of challenge
in their life and everything
00:22:51.20\00:22:54.30
we should not be judges
00:22:54.34\00:22:56.00
so we're just presenting
the data here of what happens
00:22:56.04\00:22:58.54
but what we
notice for both groups
00:22:58.57\00:23:01.61
is that from the
1950s to the 1980s,
00:23:01.64\00:23:04.61
the chances of a first marriage
00:23:04.65\00:23:09.25
breaking up within ten
years has about doubled.
00:23:09.28\00:23:12.09
Wow! Yeah, has about doubled!
00:23:12.12\00:23:15.39
So for the people
in the white population
00:23:15.42\00:23:20.23
it went from 13 out of a 100
00:23:20.26\00:23:21.96
to almost 30 out of a
100, that's about double,
00:23:22.00\00:23:25.03
for the black
population about 24 to 47,
00:23:25.10\00:23:27.80
that's also about double
00:23:27.84\00:23:29.17
so there was
something happening back...
00:23:29.20\00:23:31.11
or there was
something about our culture
00:23:31.14\00:23:33.17
back in the 1950s,
that was quite different
00:23:33.21\00:23:36.88
about our culture in the 1980s.
00:23:36.91\00:23:38.25
Hmmm... hmmm...
00:23:38.28\00:23:39.65
So that it was much more likely
that marriages would break up
00:23:39.68\00:23:43.95
so you see, this is
a very important topic.
00:23:43.99\00:23:47.26
True.
00:23:47.29\00:23:48.92
It's just something that we
as a church need to think about,
00:23:48.99\00:23:51.66
we need to talk about,
we need to develop programs
00:23:51.69\00:23:55.96
to help our church
members to stay together,
00:23:56.00\00:23:59.53
the best way is for
none of this to happen
00:23:59.57\00:24:03.27
for us to help people
stay connected together
00:24:03.30\00:24:06.94
and to have a
healthy, happy marriage,
00:24:06.98\00:24:09.44
we need to have Seminars
to talk about marriage health
00:24:09.48\00:24:12.68
we need to have programs
00:24:12.71\00:24:14.32
that encourage
families to do things together,
00:24:14.35\00:24:17.05
that's why I believe so
much in things like Pathfinders
00:24:17.09\00:24:21.39
and Little Lambs and Adventurers
and all these programs
00:24:21.42\00:24:25.66
that we have and when our young
people are in those programs,
00:24:25.69\00:24:28.90
then we, as parents,
should be in them too.
00:24:28.93\00:24:31.73
Hmmm... You know...
00:24:31.77\00:24:33.10
That's how our children
see our faith on display
00:24:33.13\00:24:36.30
and that's what
helps them to recognize
00:24:36.71\00:24:38.51
that our faith
is important to us,
00:24:38.54\00:24:40.11
that gives them security,
children want security,
00:24:40.14\00:24:45.61
they're unhappy, if actually,
00:24:45.65\00:24:47.82
there are no
rules in the household,
00:24:47.85\00:24:49.48
a household with no
rules is an unhappy house.
00:24:49.52\00:24:52.95
That's very true, it's
reflected in Government as well,
00:24:52.99\00:24:57.66
you have to have rules.
00:24:57.69\00:24:59.53
You have to have
rules, you have to have laws,
00:24:59.56\00:25:01.20
and for
children, it's kind of like
00:25:01.23\00:25:03.40
a wall that you can
put your hand on, you know,
00:25:03.47\00:25:07.54
and you're not
going to fall over,
00:25:07.60\00:25:08.94
it gives them security,
00:25:08.97\00:25:10.54
and we've gone through
some of these statistics,
00:25:10.57\00:25:12.54
and we've talked about what
happens to children in marriage
00:25:12.57\00:25:15.88
and what happens in
divorce and what it causes,
00:25:15.94\00:25:18.05
it's so sad, it's so troubling
00:25:18.08\00:25:20.68
that we need to carefully
help to prevent these things.
00:25:20.72\00:25:23.99
So, I want to hear at
the end of this first section
00:25:24.02\00:25:27.26
we talked a lot
about statistics, you know,
00:25:27.32\00:25:29.19
I've got to take the
Public Health Hat back off
00:25:29.22\00:25:31.09
and put on the Bible Hat,
00:25:31.13\00:25:32.63
we need to open the
Bible to Malachi 2 verse 16,
00:25:32.66\00:25:37.47
if you could read that
verse for us. Yvonne: Sure.
00:25:37.50\00:25:39.67
The very last book
of the Old Testament
00:25:39.70\00:25:43.24
gives us God's perspective,
Malachi 2 and verse 16.
00:25:43.30\00:25:48.04
Malachi 2:16, it says,
"For the Lord God of Israel
00:25:48.08\00:25:52.75
says that He hates divorce,
for it covers one's garment
00:25:52.78\00:25:57.12
with violence,"
Says the Lord of hosts.
00:25:57.15\00:25:59.75
"Therefore, take
heed to your spirit,
00:25:59.79\00:26:02.52
that you do not
deal treacherously. "
00:26:02.56\00:26:05.29
Yes, it says, "I hate divorce. "
00:26:05.33\00:26:09.16
Hmmm...
00:26:09.20\00:26:10.53
"I hate divorce.
" Hmmm... hmmm...
00:26:10.57\00:26:12.23
And I want to emphasize
because we'll be talking about
00:26:12.27\00:26:16.97
in coming segments,
we'll be talking about,
00:26:17.01\00:26:20.34
"What does Jesus
say about divorce?"
00:26:20.38\00:26:21.78
We'll be talking about, "What
does Paul say about divorce?"
00:26:21.81\00:26:23.78
And...
00:26:23.81\00:26:25.31
people will often... you know...
00:26:25.35\00:26:26.88
when you get into this question,
00:26:26.92\00:26:28.62
people will say, "Well, is it...
00:26:28.65\00:26:30.32
do they have Biblical grounds?
00:26:30.35\00:26:32.05
and what are the
Biblical grounds?
00:26:32.12\00:26:33.72
Do they have the right to this
00:26:33.76\00:26:35.39
or do they not have the
right to this and everything...
00:26:35.42\00:26:38.06
and you can lose the
forest for the trees.
00:26:38.09\00:26:41.26
Hmmm... hmmm...
00:26:41.30\00:26:42.63
I want to bring
the "forest message"
00:26:42.66\00:26:45.17
the forest
message that God says is,
00:26:45.20\00:26:47.77
"I hate divorce.
" Hmmm... hmmm...
00:26:47.80\00:26:50.37
Now He doesn't hate the people,
00:26:50.41\00:26:52.57
but He hates divorce
because of what it does
00:26:52.61\00:26:55.81
to children and
what it does to families,
00:26:55.84\00:26:57.58
women and men, it just...
00:26:57.61\00:26:59.75
it's just bad,
00:26:59.78\00:27:01.12
we got to try and
stay away from it,
00:27:01.15\00:27:02.78
and help our people to do so.
00:27:02.82\00:27:04.15
Absolutely, so
would you just summarize
00:27:04.19\00:27:06.25
what we learned
from this discussion?
00:27:06.29\00:27:08.36
We've learned
that American Society
00:27:08.39\00:27:10.83
has shifted,
because of a number of
00:27:10.86\00:27:13.23
opportunities or types
of things that have happened
00:27:13.29\00:27:16.26
in our Society,
many of them good,
00:27:16.30\00:27:18.07
it has become easier for
people to not get married
00:27:18.10\00:27:22.74
and more people have been
getting divorced as a result,
00:27:22.77\00:27:26.31
so we have a higher percentage
of our population... divorced,
00:27:26.34\00:27:28.98
a lower percentage married
00:27:29.01\00:27:30.61
which just means we
have a more unstable Society.
00:27:30.65\00:27:33.45
We've seen that
the Bible's message is,
00:27:33.48\00:27:35.65
"It opposes divorce,"
00:27:35.68\00:27:37.02
and so we want to
emphasize what the Bible does.
00:27:37.05\00:27:39.32
Amen, well thank
you so much Dr. Sheperd.
00:27:39.35\00:27:42.42
We want you to
be sure to tune in
00:27:42.46\00:27:45.26
take notes,
share this information,
00:27:45.29\00:27:47.80
this is such
valuable information
00:27:47.83\00:27:50.30
that Dr. Sheperd is giving us
00:27:50.33\00:27:52.30
and the statistics
are really important
00:27:52.33\00:27:54.27
because it's showing
where we're going as a Society.
00:27:54.30\00:27:57.51
Well, we know where
we're going right now,
00:27:57.54\00:28:00.08
we have to end... but we
ask you to tune in next time
00:28:00.11\00:28:03.35
as we talk about
these timely messages.
00:28:03.38\00:28:07.15
May God bless you.
00:28:07.18\00:28:08.52