(no subject)

I've been examining some interesting data lately, which identify some amazing trends concerning the reality about who gets divorced in America.


The 10 states with the lowest divorce rates all voted Democratic in 2004:
(Divorces per 1,000 state residents)

Massachusetts - 2.8
New Jersey - 3
Connecticut - 3.2
New York - 3.2
Pennsylvania - 3.3
Maryland - 3.4
Minnesota - 3.5
Wisconsin - 3.6
Rhode Island - 3.7
Illinois - 3.8

for an average of 3.35 divorces per 1,000 residents

While the 10 states with the highest divorce rates all voted Republican:
(Divorces per 1,000 state residents)

Nevada - 11.4
Oklahoma - 7.7
Arizona - 6.9
Arkansas - 6.9
Wyoming - 6.6
Idaho - 6.5
Tennessee - 6.5
Florida - 6.3
North Dakota - 6.3
Alabama - 6.1

For an average of 7.12 divorces per 1,000 residents
Interesting ... the average divorce rate is twice as high in the Republican States as in the Democratic ones. So much for the theory of Liberals not valuing marriage.

Now, for divorce rates among religious denominations (percentage of those divorced persons sampled identifying as belonging to one of the following groups)...
{sample size = 17,152, all 48 states, random geographical distribution}

Atheists / Agnostics - 19%
Lutherans - 21%
Catholics - 21%
Mormons - 24%
Episcopalians - 25%
Baptists - 29%
Non Denominational Evangelical ("Born Again" Christians) - 32%

Again, it seems those screaming the loudest about "preserving marriage" seem to be performing the worst at actually DOING it ... Typical religious hypocrisy at its finest ...

And another interesting statistic can be seen in teen birth rates:

Lowest teen birth rate: Massachusetts, at 7.4%
Highest teen birth rate: Texas, at 16.1%

I think maybe Bill D'Antonio says it best:

For all the Bible Belt's talk about family values, it is the people from Kerry's home state, along with their neighbors in the Northeast corridor, who live these values. Indeed, it is the "blue" states, led led by Massachusetts and Connecticut, that have been willing to invest more money over time to foster the reality of what it means to leave no children behind. And they have been among the nation's leaders in promoting a living wage as their goal in public employment. The money they have invested in their future is known more popularly as taxes; these so-called liberal people see that money is their investment to help insure a compassionate, humane society. Family values are much more likely to be found in the states mistakenly called out-of-the-mainstream liberal. By their behavior you can know them as the true conservatives. They are showing how to conserve family life through the way they live their family values.

Indeed. I fully advocate the copying and pasting of this info to your own LJ and/or for emailing the conservatives in your life.

Sources to consult:

• InfoUSA.gov: General Statistics | Society and Values
  
• Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census: Statistical Abstract of the United States | Statistical Abstract Reference | Status Breakdown
  
• Barna Group: Survey Shows How Christians Share Their Faith
  
• Christian Communications Worldwide: Caught in our Shame - Comments on the Recent Barna Report
  
• CDC National Center For Health Statistics: Marriage and Divorce
  
• Divorce Statistics Collection | Rates
  
• American Fact Finder
  
• Divorce Statistics according to various faith groups, age groups, & geographic areas
  
• National Marriage Project