Category: Marriage/Family

Joining me on this episode of The John-Henry Westen Show is Dr. Christine Bacon, an author, speaker, and host of the podcast “Breakfast with Bacon.” We discussed her “Standing for Marriage” services, how God has used her to save countless marriages, including her own, and more.

Cohabiting partners live longer than singles, according to recent research by Jesper Lindmarker, Martin Kolk, and Sven Drefahl published in the European Journal of Population. Even those of us who believe marriage is more than a piece of paper and essentially better than cohabitation can easily accept this finding. After all, we don’t claim that white bread is devoid of nutrients, even while we hold that wheat bread is more nutritious.

Divorce rates may be down in the U.S. from their all-time high in the 1980s (although so are marriage rates), but the popularity of divorce seems to be on the rise. You can find funny divorce cards, tote bags with sarcastic quotes (“Whoever said money can’t buy happiness clearly never paid for a divorce”), and even water bottle stickers encouraging men to proclaim their “respect for the ex.” Divorce parties reached an all-time high in 2023, the same year best-selling author and poet Maggie Smith released her divorce memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, which was followed by a slew of popular divorce memoirs in 2024. The trend gained notice in the New York Times, Glamour, Washington Post, and The Atlantic, among others. While each couple’s story is unique, they are bound by a common theme: These female authors view marriage as an unfair situation in which they can neither be fully themselves, nor fully explore and use their gifts and talents.