We've been shedding a light this week, on matters related to divorce. For much of history (and to the extent that any civilization can maintain its cohesion), society has been the "glue" that has held together even those marriages that were challenged. Until the 1960s, this was true to some degree for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. A recent article at Slate.com reminds us of the way it was, and the lengths to which Americans would go to seek a remedy.
From the 1930s to the early 1960s, Nevada—and Reno in particular — served as the divorce capital of the United States. Few other places made ending a marriage so easy. New York, for example, would grant a divorce only if one spouse could prove that the other had been adulterous — with pictures, perhaps, or an eyewitness. Even with the evidence in hand, an aggrieved spouse still had to wait a year between filing for divorce and being granted one. By contrast, Nevada offered nine grounds for divorce—impotency, adultery, desertion, conviction of a felony, habitual drunkenness, neglect to provide the common necessities of life, insanity, living apart for three years, and extreme cruelty entirely mental in nature ...
And speaking of Mad Men, the fourth season premieres on AMC this coming Sunday night. Check your local cable TV provider for the time. While suitable for adults, its mature themes of the fruits of Protestant liberalism render it unsuitable for children and most adolescents.
Discuss.
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