Divorce, Violence Linked to Non-Egalitarian "Hierarchical" Marriages

Gender hierarchalists often treat scholarship challenging their preconceptions as bogus. But note should be taken of Dennis Preato's "God's Word to Women" site, particularly the recent posting concerning "Support for Egalitarian Marriage."

In summary, the article (bolding and color highlights mine) notes:

Extensive studies and research have been performed by marriage and family professionals, sociologists, and demographers. Over the last 50 years these studies reveal that significant numbers of egalitarian marriages are happy in comparison to traditional hierarchical marriages. A recent study quantified these results revealing that over 80% of egalitarian marriages are happy while less than 20% of traditional marriages can say the same. That represents over a 4:1 ratio in favor of egalitarian marriages. Spousal abuse continues to be more than 300 percent higher in traditional marriages than in egalitarian marriages.

These research studies accomplish the following: First, they effectively discredit any traditionalists’ notion that dismantling hierarchy destabilizes marriage and that the root problem in marriage is the unwillingness of each spouse to accept the role for which he or she was designed. Second, they prove that hierarchy actually destabilizes and harms marriages. Third, they provide objective data that egalitarian marriages produce the healthiest, happiest, most intimate, and stable of all marriage relationships with the least amount of spousal abuse.

On top of this, particuarly arresting to me is the idea that, rather than blaming rampant secularism for the high divorce rate among Christians (significantly higher than atheists' divorce rates!), the blame may be directly connected to hierarchical teachings from the very Church communities that should be the source of strength for married couples.

Also of special note, Dr. Diana Garland finds:

Wives, in traditional marriages, suffered significantly more depression and other mental disorders than men, working married women and unmarried women (Bernard 1982).

In traditional marriages, wives had been beaten at "a rate of more than 300 percent higher than for egalitarian marriages (Straus, Gelles and Steinmetz 1980)."

Violence is more likely to occur in homes where the husband has all the power and makes all the decisions than in home where spouses share decision making (L. Walker 1979).

There is much more there. Also see Christians for Biblical Equality's CBE Scroll blog for other egalitarian reactions to Preato's posting.

I hope and believe more such data will be gathered to, along with the fine theological work being done by CBE-related persons, help our community become the support for Christian couples it was meant to be.

Where's the New Posts?!

Truth is, I seem to be blogging more and more on my http://bluechristian.blogspot.com site. There are some women's issues postings there, including reports on this year's Cornerstone Festival (2006) Gender Revolution Tent. That seminar tent, co-sponsored by Jesus People USA (the community I've lived in for the past 29 years) and Christians for Biblical Equality, got some heat this year from folks I'd describe as sociological fundamentalists. According to them, we're all goddess worshippers. (Hmmm... my wife's a goddess....)

Anyway, check out bluechristian for that story. I won't bail on this site, however. I'm working on a book right now, a sort of biblical marital devotional bit celebrating Eros. We'll see what I can do here, though, as well. Pray for me!

In Him,
Jon