Not much to say about this, except that it’s happening. Long, you’ll remember, is the Atlanta megachurch pastor who got in hot water last year for allegedly coercing several young men into having sex with him. Anyway, sanctity of marriage, etc. Also, one time he said his job as a preacher was to bring his congregation “fresh sperm.” You’ll have to click the link to see the context.

Couple gets married in Vermont, wants to get divorced in Nebraska, and that’s a typical story, right?  Except that it’s a same-sex couple, and that whole long ago useless Federalism thing is making things weird.  In this case, the judge says that since same-sex couples can’t marry in Nebraska, they surely can’t divorce either:

Judge Randall Rehmeier ruled that a lesbian couple married in Vermont eight years ago couldn’t get a divorce decree in Nebraska because Nebraska only recognizes heterosexual marriage.

The divorce was sought by a Nebraska City woman who wanted to break the Vermont marriage with her partner.

However, Rehmeier did issue a ruling involving parenting, visitation rights for the couple’s 4-year-old daughter, child support and other matters.

How bizarre.

As my younger brother said when he shared this with me, NEENER!

Divorce is more common among conservative Christians and young people, according to a recent study.

University of Iowa sociology professor Jennifer Glass presented her study on skyrocketing divorce rates in regions highly populated with conservative Christians to an overflowing crowd in Burdine Hall on Friday.

“Politically and religiously conservative states, especially in the Deep South, exhibit higher divorce rates than politically and religiously liberal states in the Northeast and Midwest,” Glass wrote in her study.

Yes, and why?

She said the paradox can be explained by the accelerated transition into adulthood and early marriages that young conservative Protestants practice.

Factors that lead to high rates of divorce among Christians are the prohibition of sex before marriage leading to marriage at an earlier age and teachings against abortion and birth control, which lead to “shotgun weddings,” she said.

The average age of marriage for American women is 27, she said.
Young married couples may also experience financial problems because of lower degrees of education and increased unemployment, which are risk factors for divorce, she said.

“You’ve got a local religious culture that involves everyone — whether they share that religion or not — to behave in particular ways,” Glass said.

Ah, it even hurts the surrounding culture. Perhaps they should put warning signs on the lawns of conservative churches. “Living too close to this House of Worship may endanger your marriage, studies show.”

I guess wingnut groups like the National Organization for Marriage will commence with the mouth-shutting about “protecting marriage” and start cleaning up their own house? Haha, of course not!

To sum up: Neener.

Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have decided to go their separate ways after 40 years of marriage, news reports said Tuesday.

“He kept insisting that we use green, biodegradable condoms,” complained Tipper. “That was more than I could take. He had taken his crusade too far.”

Okay, I made up that quote.

But, seriously, I wish both Tipper and Al the best of luck. Having just ended a relationship, I know it will be a difficult adjustment for both of them. These are good people and have exemplified real family values for more than four decades. (Excluding Tipper’s short stint as music label scold).

The Gores’ informed friends of the separation through e-mail, according to the Associated Press. In their message, they called the break-up a “mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful, consideration.”

I hate to hear this, but I hope they are both happy.

This story has earned this site’s first official emotocon.

:(

Hulk smash Fundamentalist Christian preconceived notions of superior morality!* Nate Silver, as he so often does, analyzed the data and found that

Over the past decade or so, divorce has gradually become more uncommon in the United States. Since 2003, however, the decline in divorce rates has been largely confined to states which have not passed a state constitutional ban on gay marriage. These states saw their divorce rates decrease by an average of 8 percent between 2003 and 2008. States which had passed a same-sex marriage ban as of January 1, 2008, however, saw their divorce rates rise by about 1 percent over the same period.

The state-by-state data is damning. Conservative states, for the most part, are the ones doing the most harm to the institution of marriage, it seems. Meanwhile, Massachusetts, the first state to pass marriage equality, continues to have the lowest divorce rate in the nation, and its divorce rate has gone down 20.7% since marriage equality became a reality.

Nothing conservatives believe is true, I swear to God.

(h/t AMERICAblog Gay)

*It’s a Hulk smash day, because of this, which is the funniest thing on the entire internet today. You will be sorry if you don’t click the clicky, and the worst part is, you won’t even know how sorry you really are, so really, do what I say.

(Weekly Column)

A February 2008 poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 16 percent of America’s 225 million adults are unaffiliated with any religion. According to the report, “When “childhood religion’ is compared against “current religion,’ the unaffiliated show a net increase of 8.8 percentage points, compared to a 7.5 point loss among Catholics, for example, or a 2.6 percent loss among Protestants.”

It is my belief that outrageously hypocritical behavior by conservative religious authorities is directly responsible for the surge in non-believers or those who shun organized religion. The ubiquitous scolds who dominate cable TV and Republican politics are too often conservatives of convenience, who believe they are exempt from practicing the strident rules that they preach.

For example, South Carolina’ First Lady, Jenny Sanford, filed for divorce last week after her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford (R), admitted an affair with a woman from Argentina. Until the scandal broke, Mark and Jenny posed as a beacon of Christian family values.

I can understand Jenny’ disgust with her husband, who left his four sons to cheat with his mistress on Father’ Day. But one can’t masquerade as a Bible-thumper when it comes to gay rights and other issues, and then say that the Bible is suddenly irrelevant when it comes to divorce.

Both Jenny and Mark profited from their charade, yet jilted Jenny wants to conveniently abandon biblical absolutism and utilize liberal divorce laws because her feelings are hurt. Sorry Jenny, but a mistress does not negate your marriage vows. Anyone can embrace the “sanctity of marriage” in good times. A true person of fundamentalist faith stays with the vows even when the relationship sours.

To highlight such hypocrisy, John Marcoa, a Sacramento Web-designer, has drafted a 2010 parody ballot measure that would ban divorce in California. Tellingly, the right wing organizations that fought to save marriage from gay couples have not lined up to support it.

From mega-churches to suburban strip mall ministries, fundamentalist youth rail against the secular culture, even as they ape it. They sport gaudy tattoos of Jesus, wear earrings in their noses and play imitation rock. On their fingers are silly chastity rings, when they really need chastity belts.

A recent New York Times magazine article points out that “More government money has been spent on the cause of sexual abstinence in Texas than any other state, but it still has the third-highest teen birth rate in the country and the highest percentage of teen mothers giving birth more than once.”

Former beauty queen Carrie Prejean is the perfect spokesperson for liberal bashing libertines. She moralized over same-sex marriage, but expected forgiveness and understanding when, thanks to tabloid pictures, America got to know her in the biblical sense.

Perhaps the most amusing part of studying conservatives is their absurd claim that America is a Christian nation, which is impossible, because no two people can define what it means to be Christian. A new Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report entitled, “Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths,” concludes that people are now choosing to “blend Christianity with Eastern or New Age beliefs”. Who knew crystals and Christ went so well together?

Last month, Watergate felon Chuck Colson joined a batch of wing nuts to write “The Manhattan Declaration”. This supposedly conservative manifesto began by shamelessly co-opting historical liberal successes. The Declaration reads:

“It was Christians who combated the evil of slavery…Christian women stood at the vanguard of the suffrage movement…The great civil rights crusades of the 1950s and 60s were led by Christians…

It is true that Christians played a role in these movements. However, it was non-believers teaming up with liberal Christians to overcome the opposition of conservative Christians. The anti-gay signers of The Manhattan Declaration are the ideological heirs to those on the wrong side of history. It was remarkable how efficiently they scrubbed their own embarrassing past and replaced their monumental failures with liberal accomplishments.

Social conservatives are a loud bunch, but their power is slipping. I think back to Middle school, when I attended a Houston Rockets basketball game with my father. During a time out the “Voice of God” announced that a gay rights measure had been crushed. The enthusiastic crowd burst out in to loud cheers, which was quite devastating to a thirteen-year old coming to terms with his sexual orientation.

On Monday, Houston voters elected openly gay Annise Parker as mayor. Unlike my youth, I watched a Houston crowd cheer for progress instead of prejudice. No doubt there were countless social conservatives across the city slamming beers, ogling women who weren’t their wives and betting on sports — while bemoaning the city’ fallen values.

This is the lifestyle of today’ conservatives of convenience. They are all creed and no deed.

Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin reports today that San Diego hotelier Doug Manchester, whose $125,000 donation to support California’ Prop 8 sparked a boycott against his Manchester Hyatt and San Diego Marriot hotels, is divorcing his wife of 43 years. He cited his Catholic faith to justify his large Prop 8 contribution.

Perhaps, he thought that the clunker program meant he could return his wife for a newer model? It could be only a matter of time before we see Disco Dougie cruising the nightclubs in San Diego, while zooming to the valet in an exciting, new convertible red Corvette.

As Burroway pointed out, the Pope would frown upon his sinful lifestyle and his wanton disregard for the sanctity of marriage. But why let a little thing like religion stand in the way of doing what feels good?