On the Question of Divorce – Sunday, October 21, 1945
There is a question which is highly personal in nature, and yet which is much more than personal, because it affects not only individuals, but the whole structure of society. The world’s attitude toward the separation of two people who have been lawfully wedded, has varied greatly with time and with place, and still does. But no matter how widely differing may be the laws and attitudes toward divorce, we must admit that in our generation there has been a growing laxity of attitude toward broken marriages, broken homes, broken families. Perhaps most men would be willing to concede that there are some causes which make it desirable, or even necessary, for people who have once been wedded to go their separate ways. But it must also be admitted that to the real causes there have been added many superficial causes which cater to the whims and to the quick changes of mind and of heart of those who lightly consider and flagrantly abuse the privileges and obligations of marriage.
So often the person who seeks divorce as the way out, has supposed that others who are married do not have adjustments to make—or sacrifices, or compromises of personal privilege. But never would we find a man and a woman whose thoughts and whose preferences were so alike as to require that neither of them give up anything for the privilege of pursuing life together. Too many who request a termination of their marital vows imagine that their errors of understanding and deficiencies of wisdom would, with someone else, unquestionably solve themselves. But those who cannot make their peace with one partner in marriage have no positive assurance that they can make their peace with any partner in marriage, because often those who seek separation suppose that others are wholly the cause of their difficulties, whereas they themselves, in part at least, may be responsible. There have been hasty marriages in war times, but let not that mean that there should be hasty divorce.
Too often divorce means a running away from problems, rather than the solving of them. Let those who have rushed in, take time to become acquainted and to work out their problems together. The relationship of marriage is sacred, and if it were not, there would be little of sacredness in life. It is more than a legal contract; it is a solemn covenant which affects not only the lives of two people, but the whole social pattern of the present, and the lives of the generation to come. The strength of a nation depends upon the stability of its homes. Easy divorce tends to undermine that strength without putting anything in its place. But, on the personal side of the question again: Admittedly there are exceptions to all these generalizations, but, admittedly also, running away from things is seldom the final solution to any problem.
“The Spoken Word,” heard over Radio Station K S L and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System, from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, Oct. 21, 1945. Copyright 1945.
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October 21, 1945
Broadcast Number 0,844