Lessons on Divorce

Divorce, of Course, of Course

Bridget Burke Ravizza wrote the article, “Selling Ourselves on the Marriage Market” and is an assistant professor of religious studies at St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI. After talking with an unnamed group of college students, she discovers that “These college students have grown up in a society in which nearly half of all marriages end in divorce.” She also reveals “they are fearful that their future marriages will go down that path, and some question whether lifelong commitment can—or should—be made at all.” Furthermore, Ravizza finds that “students are bombarded with messages about sexuality and relationships—indeed messages about themselves—that seem to undermine authentic relationships.” Simply put, culture has accepted divorce as a “normal” thing and has already begun to affect the next generations. The surveyed students are so fearful of divorce, they are, in essence, afraid of marriage as well. They even go to the extreme of avoiding divorce by saying they may not get married at all to prevent the “undermining of an authentic relationship.”

The fact of the matter is, as the polled students infer, that half (if not more) married couples do get a divorce in today’s society. Whether or not this unfortunate trend will continue down through the following generation is a theory yet to be proven, though it would make sense.

The article is missing a few necessary citations, however. I noticed no reference given as to whom Rachel Greenwald is or what her expertise are in relation to the subject. She is simply referred to by her best-selling book, Find a Husband After 35: Using What I Learned at Harvard Business School. Likewise, the theologian Paul Wadell is referred to by nothing other than his book Becoming Friends: Worship, Justice and the Practice of Christian Friendship. Also, the poll discussion with the college students at the beginning of the article is not given a source or from what part of the country the college was located.

I agree with the article’s thesis. Divorce has slowly seeped its way into the “normal” way of life and is running rampant through our country and Americans have become numb and desensitized to its abhorrence. Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more prominent and society equates this as normal. The Funk and Wagnall’s Dictionary defines divorce as the “Dissolution of a marriage bond by legal process or by accepted custom.