Ozzy and Sharon

By know, many of us have heard that it looks like Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne have decided to end their 30+ year marriage. Cal Ripken and his wife also have also divorced after a long marriage.  It's very sad. I have no snarky comments or jokes to make about this. 

Upfront-I'm not perfect. In fact, I am a bad husband/boyfriend/domestic partner. I have made many mistakes that disqualify from holding political office, holding a church office, etc. If someone wanted to point out the hypocrisy in my life and believing in standards that I personally have not lived up too, they would be here for days. So take what I say with a grain of salt. There but for the grace of God go I.

Divorce is dreadful, heartbreaking, and yes, sinful in the eyes of Christians. That does not mean that every divorced person is going to hell-like I mentioned in the upfront paragraph I am not perfect and forgiveness is always available. In 2016 people are changing. I meet many couples (religious and non religious) that are firmly against divorce. Given that Generation X, Y and the millennials are among the first children to be products of widespread divorce perhaps we can change societies views on it. No, fifty percent of marriages do not fail. It's only true if you count people who have been married over three times. Half of love does not end in divorce. 

In the LDS world early marriage is common. Usually kids gets back from their mission and within a few years, get married. I do not like this part of our culture at all. I think you should wait several years before getting married. The pressure to get married quickly and start popping out kids is horrifying to me. It was horrifying to me as a non-member, and it's horrifying to me now. The WORST thing you can do is get married quickly, have babies, and then realize you needed more time to grow up. Take that from me firsthand. 

I feel nothing but compassion and sorrow for these couples. Whenever you see a long marriage end in a tragic way, it's not a reason to celebrate or to look for "new opportunities" and "new freedom". It's like a death. In some ways marriage itself is a living, breathing entity and when you divorce you are killing it. That doesn't mean that there aren't valid reasons for a divorce-abuse and adultery do come to mind. 

This sounds "judgmental" and I'm not sorry for it. To repeat myself (because I do not want to be misunderstood) divorce isn't the ultimate sin, it's not "the end" and no, you shouldn't be held to a life of celibacy and isolation. In fact, I know many people who have gone through messy divorces and ended up in new, fulfilling relationships. But most people do regret-in one way or another-getting into a situation where divorce was needed in the first place.