Marriage is an eternal concept. It’s not just for this world. Maybe that’s why the idea of marriage is being attacked by evil forces? Pres. Hinckley talks bluntly about marriage in 1991. A quick comparison between then and now shows a downward trend and a more modern outlook toward marriage.
In his talk, President Hinckley quotes President Joseph F. Smith, who said,
No man can be saved and exalted in the kingdom of God without the woman, and no woman can reach perfection and exaltation in the kingdom of God, alone. … God instituted marriage in the beginning. He made man in His own image and likeness, male and female, and in their creation it was designed that they should be united together in sacred bonds of marriage, and one is not perfect without the other.
As President Hinckley refers to marriage and divorce statistics in the 1990 Almanac, I looked up statistics in 2020, and found this chart that shows every year from 1990 to 2018.
You can see how marriage is actually at its highest point in 1990. Another website states:
Data released yesterday shows wedding bells are growing ever-fainter in states across America. This decline in marriage can be seen in the data even before any potential impact of the coronavirus, which is expected to lower the numbers even further due to social distancing-related delays.
According to the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics, marriage rates hit an all-time low in 2018, the most recently recorded year. The national marriage rate fell from 6.9 to 6.5 marriages per 1,000 people from 2017 to 2018. The dip was the first noticeable change in a fairly stable trend over the past decade, following a long decline starting in the mid-1980s. As recently as 2001, the national rate was 8.2 marriages per 1,000 people.
Divorce seems to never be far away from marriage. Of course, because marriages are fewer, there is less divorce today. Pres. Hinckley gives this observation:
Millions of those divorced in this nation are lonely, frustrated, insecure, and unhappy. Millions of single parents are struggling to rear families, carrying burdens beyond their capacity to handle. Millions of children are growing up in single family homes from which the parents, usually the mother, out of necessity, is absent much of the time. These ‘latch-key children’ return from school each day to empty houses, where, in many cases, there is inadequate food and only the refuge of the television set. Not only are the children suffering, but all of society is paying a frightful price for their circumstances.
President Hinckley continues,
There is no simple answer. But … I find selfishness to be the root cause of most of it. … Selfishness is the antithesis of love. It is a cankering expression of greed. It destroys self-discipline. It obliterates loyalty. It tears up sacred covenants. It afflicts both men and women.
This chart, taken from the Census website, shows that cohabitation is on the rise, even surpassing marriage.
Everyone still knows that living together is a sin. One of the most common reasons for divorce is infidelity, which everyone also knows is a sin. The remedy for all this, according to President Hinckley is repentance. “It is in simple integrity that leads a man to square up his shoulders and meet his obligations. It is found in the Golden Rule.”
Because of time constraints, and he clearly had a lot to say on this subject, Pres. Hinckley couldn’t finish his talk during conference. This is what we didn’t hear over the pulpit.
Parents, see in your children sons and daughters of your Father in Heaven, who will hold you accountable for them. Stand together as their guardians, their protectors, their guides, their anchors.
The strength of the nations lies in the homes of the people. God is the designer of the family. He intended that the greatest of happiness, the most satisfying aspects of life, the deepest joys should come in our associations together and our concerns one for another as fathers and mothers and children.
God bless the homes of our people. May He bless those homes that there may be loyal and true fathers, and good and wonderful mothers.