The Washington times., 1922-09-08
MAKE It MORE
! DIFFICULT TO
WE'D, IS URGED
Mrs. v. T. Van de Water Asks
Why lnfideIity Should Be
Only Divorce Grounds.

| IeTcB Cttchney Gfdnt, 0y NeU
York city. that the Episcopal
Church hberaltze its divorce and
remarriage IatDs, which nou forbid
a divorced person TO remdTry
except aohen he or she has proved
iafidelity, has caused nation-toide
comment. Many persons support
Dr. SGrdnt's suggestion, sohiIe
others condemn hts viet1s.
\ Because of the controversy his
expressions haze developed n the
ever-recur1ing divorce problem,
The Washington Times has in
duced num6ey of authors to conf
tribute their views on the question.
The Times does not assume re-
sponsibility for their vieUs. The
UietOs expressed are those of the
,oriters and not of the paper.
The third article in this series,
printed today, is by Virgtaia Ter
hume Van de Water, noted novelist
and essayist.
The features Of DR.. Grants
recent article on the Episcopal
divorce and remarridge ldUs are:
Features In ISSUE
l. Many persons who might charge
infidelity In divorce cases refrain
from so doing and, out Of kindness
or to avoid scandal, rely on minor
charges.
.; The present regulations are
medieval. \
8. The canon involved. AZ, Is
based on q. New Testament text
which Is Of doubtful authenticity and
expresses q Jewish racial custom
rather than q universal truth.
4. The canon is un-American,
undermines civil law and encourages
civil marriages.
5. The canon deserts the theory
and tradition Of Professionalism.
By VIRGINIA TERHUNE VAN DE
WATER.
Noted Novelist and Essayist.
NEW YORK, Sept. S.-Far be II
from a humble lay-woman to criticize
the. stand taken by churchmen and
trainers Of the laws of the land. The
statement recently made by the Rev.
DIR. Percy Stickney Grant has given
rise to so much discussion that one
must have an hermetically sealed
mind II she does not find herself
asking mentally certain questions re.
garding time honored ideas.
One OF these questions Is why the
sin Of infidelity should be considered
pre.eminently the one sin that makes
divorce permissible.
l have nothing to say as to the
authenticity Of the passage quoted
by the reverend gentleman who
started this discussion, nor whether
II refers to a Jewish or Christian
custom.
Other Texts Broken.
Other texts that would seem 10
uphold him In his protests might be
proved quite as open to doubt as the
one he cites. Yet to those Of US who
would follow the teachings Of the
founder of Christianity there are
thortty now.
Such speak Of loving one another.
Of forgiving one another, of gentle
ness and charity, above all. Of doing
to others as we would have them do
to US.
These commands are broken often
er than is the Seventh Command.
ment. Why then hang the red
danger signal by that commandment,
alone.
I am not trying to belittle the
great sin of infidelity., But there
are other crimes besides this which
bring misery in their train.
To rear little children in a home
where the father. though anatomic.
ally pure, quarrels with his wife,
finds fault with his servants, Is
stingy. mean and petty is such a
wrong that one marvels that Church
and State do not act against 1t.
Other Shocking Lapses.
Even in this day of prohibition It
is quite possible for a man, II he has
money enough, to get drunk and
make a hell Of his home.
II is shocking to contemplate the
idea Of a wife's infidelity to her mar.
riage vows, but It is also shocking
for a sexually moral woman 10
neglect home and children, fill her
life with fashion and frivolity and
run up bills that her honest and
ihard-working husband cannot pay.
There are other important laws in
marriage besides the one that. en-
joins fidelity to quote another of
the sayings Of Christ himself: These
things ought we to have done and
not have left the others undone."
would not suggest that divorce
be made easier.
Make Marriage Harder.
But I would meekly suggest that
marriage be made more difficult. No.
financially more difficult. Heaven
knows It Is hard enough now from a
financial standpoint for the modern
young man to take unto himself a
wife. And how the pair live decently
on his salary is a marvel.
Yet there might be a law making
II difficult for young people to plunge
rashly into matrimony after an ac-
quaintance of but few days.
The war showed us many cases
of marrying In haste and repentipg
not in leisure, but In a hurry, fol.
lowed by the breaking of laws made
In the sight Of God and man for no
more valid reason than that the
young people were tired Of each
other. .N .."s
Our marriage system is far from
perfect. But up to date II Is the
best thing of the kind we have. Un-
I'll we get something better we might
spend some time on improving the
system instead of trying to make 1t
easy to lay It's laws aside.
... Love Is Forfotten.
1SG -