Let's face it. Although there can be many reasons for divorce, the main one is and has always been unfaithfulness to a marriage partner. Western attitudes toward adultery are not that encouraging.

A major feature article in The Sunday Times revealed that "up to 55 percent of people have an affair at some time in their lives . . . One in 10 men admit to an affair in the past five years . . . For men in London the average number of sexual partners over a lifetime has jumped from 12.2 in 1990 to 15.5 in 2000." Statistics about women showed a similar increase.

Of course, affairs don't always result in divorce. The article stated that "new research suggests people are becoming more tolerant of straying spouses and brief affairs. What matters more, they say, is 'emotional infidelity.' Genuine repentance by the offender followed by true forgiveness on the part of the offended is commendable. But in the long run so-called tolerance (mutual or otherwise) of adulterous behavior can lead only to more misery and unhappiness.

Perhaps the most disturbing statement in the article was this: "American studies have shown that religious people disapprove of affairs more strongly than others—but have just as many of them." Such blatant hypocrisy is shameful and embarrassing. The apostle Paul wrote:"Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame" (1 Corinthians 15:34). To better understand why God condemns any sexual relationships outside of marriage, please write for our free booklet The Ten Commandments. (Sources: The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph.)