The environment is all the rage these days in politics, the media, the classroom and elsewhere. Everything must be viewed through green-coloured glasses: from Christmas gift-giving (wrapping paper, plastic gifts, etc.) to perversion (hedonists debate whether sex toys and lubricants harm the environment). Nothing escapes the environmentalist’s gaze.
So, we were amused by news coming out of Michigan State University, where researchers found that divorced households use disproportionately more resources than married households, in part because the mother and father are living separately, but both still need to heat and light their homes. Some social conservatives have taken this news as affirmation of the importance of marriage, but we are concerned that opposing divorce for the sake of Gaia is dangerous. Divorce causes many societal problems and it seems that the “carbon footprint” touching the environment is one of them.
But, divorce is not wrong because it affects the environment, any more than it is wrong because it often harms the children affected by the break-up of a marriage. Rather, divorce is wrong because marriage is not meant to be dissoluble. By being so, the traditional family, which is the very foundation of society, is seriously undermined. Furthermore, for Christians and Jews, divorce violates God’s law. Stories such as this one might seem neat, but pro-family Canadians need not attach themselves to popular causes such as the environment to uphold ancient truths.
