Wednesday, May 7, 2003

The Rev. John Hatcher's last article was a well-intended attempt to grapple with the moral complexities of divorce. I assume he was referring to the Catholic Church when he talked about a denomination that refused communion to a remarried divorced person. These are difficult issues, but let me see if I can clarify a few things.

First, all Christians considered divorce to be unacceptable for all but the rarest cases up until the 20th century (and the Catholic Church still provides for exceptions). It is only in the last 100 years that many denominations have become more lax regarding divorce, much to the detriment of our society, I would argue. So, this split in the Christian community on divorce is a relatively new thing in the 2000-year history of our faith. Let us remember that.

Second, those Christians who condemn divorce do so based on the words of Christ in the Gospels. He established marriage as an indissoluble covenant. In upholding marriage and condemning divorce, we traditional Christians are doing nothing less than trying to be faithful to our Lord and Savior. Sometimes taking a stand based on the Gospel is difficult and counter-cultural, but Christ never said it would be easy!

Third, divorce, like any other "sin," is not unpardonable. All sins can be forgiven by God and by his Church, even more egregious ones like murder. However, forgiveness does not equal complete restitution. Just as a criminal might be forgiven a crime by the victim, yet still have to serve the sentence, so a divorced person in the eyes of the Church can obtain forgiveness, and then proceed to rectify the damage done to his/her own soul by the pain of divorce. This is a necessary purification on the way to reintegration with the Body of Christ in Holy Communion.

Finally, I wonder what the Rev. Hatcher would have us do as a society to make divorce less of a stigma. I mean, it has already become as accepted as can be possible without it actually being something to celebrate.

The results are obvious: broken homes, scarred lives, abuse, poverty, etc. Think of the damage done to society by the increase in out-of-wedlock births, something else which used to be more strongly condemned (even as Christian groups, behind the scenes, offered care and comfort to the single mothers).

While we should focus on not being judgmental and loving to those who are divorced, we should not let up on our hatred of divorce and our attempts to affirm, save, and strengthen the holy institution of marriage.

Trey Hoffman

Sharpsburg