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The Roman Catholic Church prohibits divorce in principle, but in practice will make an exception in every case - often declaring a marriage anulled rather than divorced, a legal distinction.

The Roman Catholic Church prohibits divorce in principle, but in practice will make an exception in every case - often declaring a marriage anulled rather than divorced, a legal distinction.

Most [[Protestant]] churches permit divorce, but encourage marriage counseling services or pastoral discussion first to save a marriage, saving divorce as a last resort. Often, the local pastor has exclusive authority over the marital business of his church, with only minimal policymaking from above.

Most [[Protestant]] churches permit divorce, but encourage marriage counselling services or pastoral discussion first to save a marriage, saving divorce as a last resort. Often, the local pastor has exclusive authority over the marital business of his church, with only minimal policymaking from above.

== Secular view ==

== Secular view ==

The United States has a divorce rate of 3.6 per 1,000 as of 2005<ref>http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_20.pdf</ref>.  This results in a 41% failure rate for first marriages.<ref>http://www.divorcerate.org/</ref>

The United States has a divorce rate of 3.6 per 1,000 as of 2005<ref>http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_20.pdf</ref>.  This results in a 41% failure rate for first marriages.<ref>http://www.divorcerate.org/</ref>

According to a [[Barna Group]] study, the percentage of [[atheists]] getting divorced is lower than that for [[Christians]] or [[Jews]]<ref>http://www.adherents.com/largecom/baptist_divorce.html</ref> However, since Christians choose not to co-habitate in the same proportions as atheists, they are more likely to marry and therefore more likely to divorce as a group since a greater proportion of them are married.

According to a [[Barna Group]] study, the percentage of [[atheists]] getting divorced is lower than that for born again [[Christians]] or [[Jews]], a statistic that is widely circulated.  What is not as well reported is that since born again Christians choose not to co-habitate in the same proportions as non-Christians, they are more likely to marry.  For those who side-step marriage, they don't get divorced either.  Barna has this to say:<blockquote>"Among born again adults, 80% have been married, compared to just 69% among the non-born again segment. If the non-born again population were to marry at the same rate as the born again group, it is likely that their divorce statistic would be roughly 38% - marginally higher than that among the born again group, but still surprisingly similar in magnitude."<ref>http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=170</ref></blockquote>

== Covenant Marriage ==

== Covenant Marriage ==