Dissing Divorcees
In fundamentalist circles there is a definite pecking order to sins committed. Being a former drug addict or murderer is actually a plus since it makes for a great testimony and turns you into a walking example of the transformational power of the gospel. On the other hand, being divorced in fundy circles consigns one to the kind of second class positions reserved for those who struggle with homosexuality and people who admit to having voted for Bill Clinton.
To a fundamentalist there is never a good reason to get divorced. Even if one’s spouse turns out to be a combination of Jack the Ripper and Attila the Hun the fundy code insists that there can be no escape clause from the eternal bonds of matrimony. And the ex-Mrs. Hun still doesn’t qualify to teach Sunday School or be on the missions committee lest others in the church see her example and be tempted to unwittingly marry a marauding philanderer.
It would appear that the only recourse for the fundy divorcee who wishes to have a place in ministry is to move to a remote part of Florida and start their own King James Only sect.
Posted by Darrell
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Funny…
As I was reading the post, I thought of that person in Florida. : )
Truly the worst of all things you can do. You can throw your whole life away as a reprobate, get saved, and become a great, out of context Fundy evangelist, but don’t EVER get divorced. I’d be suprised if they let you sing in the choir.
Well, to be fair, the rest of the Baptist sect has only recently figured this out too. Only now do we have divorce-care and I was still surprised when I found out that an SBC friend of mine (who is divorced) was accepted to be a chaplain in the US Navy. Maybe the SBC figured he couldn’t hurt them in the Navy! I don’t know.
Divorce – the unforgiveable sin.
ex – Mrs. Hun should have tried harder and prayed more. It’s all her fault. Never mind that Mr. Hun never set foot into the church, was a pot-head, abusive, and addicted to porn.
I agree about divorce being the unforgivable sin. Because of my wife divorcing me for no biblical reason I had to give up my calling of being a baptist minister. Ironiclly, her church is one of the few that doesn’t view it as an unpardonable sin and she’s a Sunday School teacher!
This is so true. In a larger sense, the sad part is the way certain sins are treated as being “worse” than other sins. Jesus hates division, yet gossip is largely condoned in fundamental circles (i.e. “just passing along a prayer request.”). . .
The worst thing is many fundamental churches offer no help for significant and real issues like divorce, marriage problems, abusive situations, etc. . except for “read this Bible verse and pray more.” Seriously.
My church dis-fellowshipped a man because of his unrepentant adultery. He later divorces his wife and is now engaged to his mistress. He has joined a church across town. His former wife has informed us that since his fiancee is Roman Catholic, he is seeking to have his first marriage annulled by her church so he can marry her. (Can anyone explain to me the Roman Catholic practice of annulment?)
We need a better understanding of I Cor. 7:10-16. Perhaps we would be better able to help if we did.
Or you can (if a lady) write a book attacking every modern Bible version as the product of a vast New Age conspiracy, making sure that your book does not tell the reader you are a lady. Then you can go around lecturing on why Greek and Hebrew study is EEVIL!!!
Worked for Gail Riplinger!
The RCC will not “recognize” your second marriage unless your first marriage is annulled by the RCC. It is a process by which you must be vetted, so to speak, by your priest and the Archbishop of your state’s diocese. The Archbishop will contact the first wife or husband by a letter letting them know that your former spouse wishes to annull your marriage.
Even though it is nothing more than a piece of paper to satisfy the RCC it is still quite humiliating and painful for the first spouse. They are being told that the marriage was never legal and that would make any offspring from that marriage to be illegitimate.
Its bunk.
I need to say that it is my logical conclusion that it would make any offspring seem illiegitimate. If you read this website http://www.stcdio.org/annulment.htm
it should make it “clear”. The real point is that it is really only a piece of paper to satisfy the RCC.
@Amy
I have gone through the annulment process. What you voice are common misconceptions of what it is. Because a sacramental marriage cannot be put aside, the Catholic church discerns through the annulment process as to whether or not a sacramental marriage between two parterns existed. If there was an imediment to the marriage (such as one partner’s alcoholism at the time of marriage), then that is considered to be a mitigating factor and may have prevented a sacramental marriage from existing.
Two very important points: The Catholic church does not say the marriage wasn’t “legal” in the secular sense, nor does it say that any children from an annuled marriage were illegitimate.