Sacrificing Love for Lent?

By Seth Eisenberg As a Jew, Lent is not one of the traditions my family and ancestors practiced. Yet reading Mike McManus’ post on the Coalition for Divorce Reform website left me inspired by the sacred meaning and potential of the 46 days of reflection and sacrifice observed by Catholics and many Protestants that ends on Easter […]

A Lenten Challenge to Pastors to Cut the Divorce Rate

By Mike McManus After hearing a Lenten sermon on the need to repent from sins and make a new commitment to amend our lives, I asked my pastor to consider calling upon area churches this Lent to create a Community Marriage Covenant.  Scripture is clear: “`I hate divorce,’ says the Lord God of Israel.”   We have plenty […]

The First Monday In January

 By David Schel No sooner had the sun set on the busiest month of the year for retailers, when the most active season for divorce lawyers had its kickoff the first Monday in January on what has sadly become known as Divorce Monday. It commences the biggest time of the year for divorce filings. Many […]

Urgent: Census Bureau to Stop Studying Marriage and Divorce

By John Crouch The U.S. government plans to stop collecting the only divorce rate information that anyone actually cares about: What are our overall chances of divorcing, ever? How long do marriages last? How many children grow up without one parent? What is the divorce rate for people of my age, educational level, etc.? And […]

Giving Hope to a Relationship Third-World Country

By Sage Erickson Picture a third world country: desperate poverty, a daily struggle to survive, widespread suffering, minimal sanitation, and diminished economic opportunities. Now picture the United States. Although the United States has long been known as a first-world country politically and economically, has it become a third world country when it comes to romantic […]

Shoring Up Stepfamilies

By Mike McManus Perhaps half of all marriages involve one partner who was previously married. If children are involved, 70% of stepfamilies will divorce, putting everyone through another trauma. However, four of five of these marriages can be saved. Why do so many of these marriages fail? “Putting together or integrating a stepfamily is one […]

Move Over First Families: Stepfamilies Are the New Game in Town

By Beverly Willett   A few days ago, Honey Maid, the maker of a wide variety of well-known graham cracker products including the honey-flavored Teddy Grahams I once served my own children, unleashed the second installment in its “This is Wholesome” campaign.[1] The campaign, which is accompanied by two videos, celebrates stepfamilies, and was scheduled to coincide […]

Is “Married At First Sight” A Recipe for Happily Ever After?

By Seth Eisenberg The new American television series “Married At First Sight” follows six people as they discover if married at first sight can last. Personally, I know love at first sight can last. A lasting, happy marriage, however, is about much more than the feelings that come up at the first sight of a potential partner for life. My […]

Note to Millennials — It’s Not All About You

By Chris Gersten “Isn’t testing a marriage, like we test a username, simply-well, logical” journalist Jessica Bennett asks in a recent article for Time entitled “The Beta Marriage: How Millennials Approach ‘I Do.’” For Bennett, the answer to this question seems obvious:  If the institution of marriage is in trouble in our country, let’s take […]

“Beta Marriage” Isn’t a Better Marriage

By Greg Griffin I’m intrigued by the recent article in Time Magazine suggesting that millennials try out a “beta marriage” model instead of marriage as we have understood it through the ages. Like many of us, millennials too see life as a series of multiple choice options, all within their control. Frankly, they also view […]