The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
officially disapproves of divorce but does permit both divorce (the legal
dissolution of a marriage bond) and annulment (a decree that a marriage was
illegal or invalid) in civil marriages and "cancellation of sealing"
in temple marriages.
Latter-day Saints believe that God intended marriage
to be an eternal union when he commanded that a man and woman "shall be
one flesh" (Gen. 2:24). However, under Jewish interpretation of the Law of
Moses, a man had the right to divorce his wife if she found disfavor in his
eyes or for "uncleanness" (adultery or other reasons). The man was
required to give his wife a written bill of divorcement, which freed her to
remarry (Deut. 24:1-2), although in some cases he was not allowed to "put
away" his wife (Deut. 22:29).
Jesus Christ condemned divorce under most
circumstances, saying, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not
man put asunder" (Matt. 19:6). He explained that Moses had permitted
divorce only "because of the hardness of your hearts" and because the
people could not live the higher law of eternal marriage, "but from the
beginning it was not so" (Matt. 19:8). To this he added, speaking in the
Sermon on the Mount to those who would strive to be the light of the world and
the children of God, "Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth
another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from
her husband committeth adultery" (Luke 16:18; Matt. 5:31-32; 3 Ne.
12:31-32).
The Doctrine and Covenants reiterates the teaching
that marriage is ordained of God (D&C 49:15-16). The Church distinguishes
between (1) civil marriages, which are valid for "time" (until
divorce or the death of one spouse), and (2) temple marriages, or sealings,
solemnized by proper ecclesiastical authority, which are binding for "time
and all eternity" if the participants are obedient to the gospel (see
Marriage: Eternal). Legal annulments and divorces free the individuals married
civilly for remarriage. Only the President of the Church can authorize a
"cancellation of sealing" in temple marriages to free a worthy member
to remarry in the temple. Without a cancellation of sealing, divorced members
may remarry for time only (see Sealing: Cancellation of).
For nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints, feelings
about divorce were mixed. President Brigham Young did not approve of men
divorcing their wives, but women were relatively free to dissolve an unhappy
marriage, especially a polygamous union (see Plural Marriage). Such divorces
were handled in ecclesiastical courts because polygamous marriages were not
considered legal by the government. Records of the number of divorces granted
between 1847 and 1877 show a relatively high rate of divorce for polygamous
marriages. This rate was high, not so much because polygamy was difficult, but
because LDS society had not developed clear rules and expectations for the
practice or the participants (Campbell and Campbell, p. 22).
Early Utah laws reflected general LDS beliefs and may
have influenced the incidence of divorce. An 1851 territorial divorce law had
lenient residency requirements and allowed divorce when it was clear "that
the parties cannot live in peace and union together, and that their welfare
requires a separation" (First Legislative Assembly of the Territory of
Utah, 1851, p. 83).
Current Church statistics on divorces among
Latter-day Saints show somewhat fewer divorces among U.S. Mormons than among
the general U.S. population. Data from a 1981 Church membership survey in the United
States show that 16 percent of members (as compared to 23 percent of U.S.
whites, statistically the most comparable group) had been divorced (Goodman and
Heaton, p. 93). Latter-day Saints in Canada, Great Britain, Mexico, and Japan
were more likely than their respective national populations to be divorced.
However, converts who had divorced before joining the Church contributed to the
relatively high proportion of divorced members outside the United States.
Recent U.S. data from the National Survey of Families
and Households indicate that about 26 percent of both Latter-day Saints and
non-LDS have experienced a divorce (Heaton et al., Table 2). If these trends
continue, researchers project that about one-third of recent U.S. LDS marriages
may end in divorce (Goodman and Heaton, p. 92). Nationally, experts predict
that 50-60 percent of recent marriages will end in divorce or separation
(Cherlin, p. 148).
Societal pressures and individual characteristics
affect the likelihood of divorce. There will be a higher incidence of divorce
among Latter-day Saints if they marry younger than age twenty or older than age
thirty, have less than a college education, or marry outside the faith. These
factors correlate with factors influencing divorce among U.S. citizens
generally. In addition, divorce is more common when Latter-day Saints marry
within the faith but do not have the marriage sealed in the temple. Goodman and
Heaton found that such marriages are five times more likely to end in divorce
than are temple marriages (p. 94). Those who choose a temple marriage usually
are more committed to the Church and are required to comply with strict
behavioral standards of chastity and fidelity to qualify for the temple
marriage.
Severe personal and economic consequences usually
accompany divorce among Latter-day Saints. LDS women are often not well
prepared to support themselves and their children, and men may pay little in
child support or alimony. About one-third of female-headed LDS households, a
majority of which were the result of divorce, are living in poverty, despite a
high rate of employment among single mothers (Goodman and Heaton, pp. 101,
104).
Divorced Latter-day Saints have lower religious
participation than married members. They attend Church less often, and they
pray, pay tithing, and hold Church callings less frequently than married
members. These may be symptomatic of both the causes and the consequences of
divorce.
Divorced Latter-day Saints are also more likely to
remarry than the general divorced U.S. population. More than three-fourths of
divorced Mormons probably will remarry (Goodman and Heaton).
After the divorce of their parents, most LDS children
live with their mothers. They attend Church less frequently than children in
two-parent households, even when the custodial parent attends regularly. Church
researchers estimate that one-third of LDS children in the United States will
live with a single or remarried parent.
Twentieth-century Church leaders speak of divorce as
a threat to the family. In the April 1969 General Conference, President David
O. McKay declared, "Christ's ideal pertaining to marriage is the unbroken
home, and conditions that cause divorce are violations of his divine teachings.
Except in cases of infidelity or other extreme conditions, the Church frowns
upon divorce" (IE 72 [June 1969]:2-5). President Spencer W. Kimball
said that relatively few divorces are justifiable. He also told members that
divorce frequently results from selfishness and other sins of one or both
spouses (Kimball, 1975, p. 6). Other Church leaders also emphasize selfishness
and mention additional causes of divorce, such as poor choice of a marriage
partner, infidelity, lack of understanding of the divine nature of marriage,
poor financial management, and lack of continued marital enrichment. "The
current philosophy-get a divorce if it doesn't work out-handicaps a marriage
from the beginning" (Haight, p. 12).
Church leaders urge members to prepare for marriage,
marry within the faith, marry in the temple, live righteously and nurture their
marriage relationships, pray for guidance, and counsel with each other and with
priesthood leaders to resolve differences and deter divorce. Priesthood leaders
are advised to help members strengthen their marriages but, when necessary, to
permit divorce and to determine whether disciplinary action should be taken
against any spouse guilty of moral transgression, such as infidelity or abuse.
Priesthood leaders are to "cast out" (i.e., excommunicate)
unrepentant adulterers from among the Saints, but to accept the victims of
divorce (D&C 42:74-77).
Church members who are divorced and the children of
divorced parents sometimes report feelings of isolation or lack of acceptance
because of the strong orientation toward two-parent families in the Church
(Hulse, p. 17). Church leaders admonish all members to be sensitive to the
needs of people in difficult circumstances and to offer help and appropriate
encouragement and compassionate service wherever possible.
Bibliography
Campbell, Eugene E., and Bruce L. Campbell.
"Divorce Among Mormon Polygamists: Extent and Explanations." Utah
Historical Quarterly 46 (Winter 1978):4-23.
Cherlin,
Andrew. "Recent Changes in American Fertility, Marriage and Divorce."
ANNALS, AAPSS 510 [July 1990]:148.
Foster,
Lawrence. "A Little-Known Defense of Polygamy from the Mormon Press in
1842." Dialogue 9 (Winter 1974):21-34.
Foster,
Lawrence. Religion and Sexuality: Three American Communal Experiments of the
Nineteenth Century. New York, 1981.
Goodman, Kristen
L., and Tim B. Heaton. "LDS Church Members in the U.S. and Canada: A
Demographic Profile." AMCAP Journal 12 (1986):88-107.
Haight, David
B. "Marriage and Divorce." Ensign 14 (May 1984):12.
Heaton, Tim
B., and Kristen L. Goodman. "Religion and Family Formation." Review
of Religious Research 26 (June 1985):343-59.
Heaton, Tim
B., et al. "In Search of a Peculiar People: Are Mormon Families Really
Different?" Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion,
October 1989, Table 2.
Hulse, Cathy.
"On Being Divorced." Ensign 16 (Mar. 1986):17.
Kimball,
Spencer W. "The Time to Labor is Now." Ensign 5 (Nov. 1975):6.
Kimball,
Spencer W. Marriage. Salt Lake City, 1978.
KRISTEN L.
GOODMAN
(Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 393.)