Dalrock starts this conversation by showing a flyer talking about helping your child through divorce one of his kids bought home from kindergarden. I guess that means that the child was five.

In the terms of a marraige, that is still spring. You have not as yet survived middle school or that specail hell called parenting the princess between 13 and 15.  This is early.

For the record I’d prefer to not make any women unhappy, nor make any adults feel worse about their divorce.

via Flyer sent home with our kindergartner. | Dalrock.

I appreciate the sentiment, sensitive and caring as it is. However, I for one have no problem with making women unhappy or making adults feel worse about their divorce if it menas refusing to tell them the truth. Clearly many women (and some men) have absolutely no problem making their children miserable and making their lives worse.

At our church, the subjects of forgiveness, the sin of divorce, and the Bible’s warnings about divorce come up in the pulpit regularly. And I for one, think it’s a good thing, no matter who feels bad. Any preacher worth his salt makes everyone feel bad about their sin at some time or another.

The great thing about our society not being catholic — with everyone being expected to attend the parish church and nonconformists being shunned — is that we no longer need to accede to the demands of publick religion.

We can stick to Marriage 1.0. Which has different rules. Here the anabaptists are far, far ahead of us, because they have overtly been countercultural for 500 years.

• It is about the kids.
• It is about us.
• If involves economic issues explicitly. The families decide how they will support the new couple, and their approval is needed. This includes career counselling (you need to be home while the kids are small, daughter… you need to be working harder — let’s find you some janitorial work, son… )
• The couple are under the care of a church, as are the families, who help them up. (If you are attending every prayer meeting| the pub like you did when you are single you are not giving your wife|husband the attention she needs….
• Young people are encouraged to marry when emotionally mature and able to earn a wage.
• Deviation from sexual and financial fidelity lead to naming, shaming and, if needed, shunning.

Romance? Nice… but a faithful woman who walks with you, prays with you, cries with you and meets your needs for food and comfort — with you paying just as much attention to protecting and providing for her.

We need to be explicitly counter-cultural. We do not need to opt into the laws of the nation where we live. Our marraige contracts should be biblical.