For the first time in many, many years, researchers are reporting a decline in the number of divorces in this country. Through the 1960s and 1970s, the number of divorces being granted shocked the consciences of those who are spiritually-minded. A professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University, Andrew Scherlin, said, "The climbing divorce rate had to stop somewhere or we'd find ourselves with 110 percent of all married couples getting divorced."

This information was reported by the New York Times and printed in the Akron Beacon Journal (1/14/85). In 1981, the number of divorces reached a record high when "53 of every 1,000 people, or 5.3 percent, received divorces." It is commonly said that there are about 215 million people in this country. If so, in 1981 almost 11.4 million of those people were divorced. The figure is shocking.

However, the last three years there has been a decline in the number of divorces to 49 out of every 1,000 people being divorced, or 4.9 percent. This means that 10.5 million people were divorced by the end of 1984. That's a lot of people! However, there was a decline. Researchers are at a loss to explain this decline but they believe it is legitimate because it has sustained itself for three consecutive years. Some are even of the opinion that the institution of marriage might yet survive! Perhaps some people are beginning to think for themselves a little bit. We've heard so much about personal freedoms in recent years that many people became confused. Some people apparently have been turned off by such movements as the "gay rights" movement and the "women's liberation" movement. We in the Lord's church have tried to continually preach against the sin of divorce and remarriage as it is so commonly practiced in our society. I was just thinkin, do you suppose the message is beginning to have an effect? Let me share with you the following article from The Light (Vol. 16, No. 1, January 1985) entitled, "I Am A Tired Woman."

I Am A Tired Woman

. . . tired of being told that I am not happy, and that any illusions I might have to the contrary are indicative of a low mentality or at best a lack of originality or imaginative thinking.

. . . tired of being told by unmarried females that being a wife and mother is not rewarding.

. . . weary of those married females who, having made shambles of their own marriage, tell us that the institution of marriage won't work, who having found themselves unequal to the task of finding happiness in marriage, intimate that we are less than adequate if we do not seek fulfillment outside of marriage.

. . . tired up to here with those who choose to ignore the basic and most apparent differences between men and women and their capabilities, thereby proving once more the truth of the old adage that "there is no one so blind as he who does not wish to see. "

. . . and full of pity for those who complain of being the playthings of men while they strut around in broad daylight in such a sad state of undress that they leave no doubt whatever as to what they consider their primary function in this life.

. . . tired of watching those who have never learned the art and grace of being a woman, yet seek to undermine everything that is feminine, trying to make men and women into carbon copies of each other, not for the betterment of mankind, but for the sole purpose of satisfying their own selfish desires.

. . . fed up with those who are so interested in their own so-called "rights" that they actually want to pass a bill making it illegal to treat us like women, stomping thus on the rights of those of us who have found fulfillment in being a woman, who know how to make not only ourselves happy, but also our husbands, our children, and those around us - who know what it really means to be a woman and to be treated like a woman.

. . . yes, but I am a woman. And I like it that way!

Author Unknown

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 23, p. 718
December 5, 1985