Robert Simpson
Prof. M. Mehaffy
English 102
22 March, 1998
Divorce: The Thing to Do
"Divorce: The End That Never Quite Does" by Kathleen Parker says that divorce is too easy and that people don't really see the harm it can cause. Parker also says that divorce is common place and that it seems that people are all too happy to get a divorce when things get rough. In the movie "Bye Bye Love" it showed a lot of the negative things about divorce but it still showed that it is common place and relatively easy to get. I agree that being divorce is hard and that it is very easy to get a divorce. I think that because it is so easy, people see it as an easy way out.
I think people get divorce for the stupidest reasons. The bible instructs us to only think about divorce in cases of infidelity. I've seen people get divorced just because one partner watched too much TV. I'm not trying to say that I'm perfect, I got a divorce too but I divorced my wife after the third time she had an affair. I tried to keep my marriage together but I failed. Seeing the things I went through I think that people that just can not handle their spouses watching TV is a bit childish. I also think that people should think about what marriage means. People seem to think of it as a tax break or a convenience. It is a life long commitment and to think of marriage as anything else is wrong. If you don't wish to be married your whole life then don't bother. Our society allows for people to live together with out getting married. The bible doesn't agree with that but it doesn't agree with divorce either, so if you don't care what God says then why even bother trying to act like it by getting married.
I think that getting a divorce is very easy. Parker agrees that people generally look at divorce as an easy way out and the movie "Bye Bye Love" showed us that there are quite a few people that take the 'easy way out'. I've talked to people that do not agree with the fact that getting divorced is easy but they haven't seen the 'divorce shareware' which consist of all the papers you would need to get a divorce on computer disk. I don't think they have seen the courtrooms filled with angry couples or watched a judge just sign the papers without asking any questions like these: "Are you sure? Have you thought this through?" of even just "Why?"
I think that divorce should be harder to get. Only then would people think more about marriage and what it actually means. I don't think it would have helped in my case but I've seen too many young couples get married without even thinking about what it means.
Marriage is hard but divorce is devastating. Parker said, "divorce is physically and spiritually devastating". If you go into a marriage thinking that it will not be easy then you will most likely be prepared for when something does go wrong and things will go wrong. If you don’t think about it then chances are you will end up just like the parents in the movie "Bye Bye Love": Hating each other, wondering if your kids will ever understand and trying to figure out what went wrong. I had to learn my lesson the hard way.