How To Cut America's Divorce Rate in Half (nothing to do with DNA) - 9/2/08

Tue Sep 2 12:47:11 EDT 2008

- HOW TO CUT THE DIVORCE RATE IN HALF

Mike McManus is launching a No Fault/Mutual Consent campaign that many
experts say could greatly reduce the divorce rate.

Read the book which you can download at Marriage Savers for only $4.95 so
you can speak to the issues to your local community, legislators, and media
and watch this space for next steps. Be sure to also download the Talking
Points found at the MarriageSavers website. - diane

Diane, 

I've just written a new book "How To Cut America's Divorce Rate In Half" and
hope you'll share this announcement with the SmartMarriages community.

The current No Fault Divorce Law, in 49 states, is rigged to destroy
families, not to preserve them. Frank Furstenburg and Andrew Cherlin wrote
in "Divided Families," that "four out of five marriages ended unilaterally."
Though a divorce is opposed in 80% cases by one spouse, it is ALWAYS
granted. 

I propose Mutual Consent legislation that couples with children should be
required to obtain the written consent of their spouse for the dissolution
of their marriage if there are no allegations of major fault such as
adultery or physical abuse. The spouse who thinks their marriage IS
reconcilable should have an equal voice in deciding whether to preserve it.
Both legal and religious experts believe the replacement of No Fault Divorce
with Mutual Consent would save half of the marriages now ending in divorce.

If passed in every state, a half million children a year would NOT see their
parents divorce, 5 million in a decade! It is hard to imagine any change in
America that could bring more positive benefits to American families.

In his endorsement of the book John Crouch, President of Americans for
Divorce Reform, writes, "As a divorce lawyer, I see every day how much
carnage and anger the divorce process causes, and how damaging it is to men,
women and children alike. But there is an immense gap between the
dissatisfaction that comes out of the process and actually doing something
constructive about it...With this book, McManus points the way toward
changes that could reduce the divorce rate by 50%, as part of a cultural
revolution just as profound and dramatic as the one that gave us our
present-day levels of divorce, cohabitation and single parenthood."

Dr. Richard Cizik, V.P. of the National Association of Evangelicals, writes:
"Every pastor is stunned by the number of couples in his church who divorce.
Few of them realize that in four out of five cases, one spouse does NOT want
the divorce, but is forced to accept it because the law actually grants
every divorce, shattering the lives of children. Mike McManus puts his
finger on a simple but profound answer require that in cases involving
children that both parents would have to agree to a divorce, except in cases
of adultery or physical abuse. . . ."

Catholic Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger, writes: "The Catholic Church does not
believe in divorce at all, but is encouraged that polls reveal that by a 2-1
margin Americans believe it should "be harder than it is now for married
couples with young children to get a civil divorce" (6% to 35%). `How To Cut
America's Divorce Rate in Half' suggests how to do that, by requiring
written mutual consent of both a mother and a father before any divorce is
granted. By giving the spouse who wants to save the marriage an equal voice
with an unhappy mate, many marriages could be restored, perhaps saving most
of them."

To learn more, go to www.ReduceDivorce.org, click on Press, then a memo I've
written with Talking Points.  I even suggest how reforming divorce law could
be made into a federal issue to be asked of the Presidential and
Congressional candidates. In fact, Mike Huckabee wrote the Foreword. The 112
page book itself is posted as a PDF file that can be downloaded for only
$4.95 though it retails for $9.95. Bulk orders make it available for as
little as $3 per book.

Michael McManus
President & Co-Chair
Marriage Savers
http://www.marriagesavers.org
301 469-5873

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