Spiritual Values and the Family in Court

The topic assigned for discussion in this paper is happily ambiguous. "Spiritual Values" may be interpreted as referring to religious teachings; but the term may equally refer to broad considerations of a purely social character. First of all, it is here recorded that many millions of American citizens hold firmly to a purely religious judgment concerning the evils of divorce. They read the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, verses three to twelve, and find there, not a mere record of the views of an ancient seer, but rather an authoritative decision proclaimed by the Incarnate Lawgiver for all mankind. God's authority, these citizens hold, is supreme. Against His law, no argument or authority may be cited. Hence, when a husband and wife are validly and sacramentally married, no man can put them asunder; and no court, by a bill of divorce, can endow them with a right to remarry Under our American system, these citizens may hold these opinions, with others dissenting. They may by their discussions and their votes try to convince others to reform our existing legal institutions, so that divorce will not merely be regulated, but even eliminated. This viewpoint, however, seems to be held by only a minority. The majority have other religious tenets in the matter of divorce, or none at all. A purely theological approach to the existing problem, therefore, offers little hope of a presently practical solution. This does not mean, however, that a restriction of divorce will be advocated solely by those who have theological convictions. On another plane, there are basic social values which strongly suggest and support a reforming attitude. Spiritual values, in this sense, involve no sectarian differences. All good citizens can consider these principles sincerely and fairly, and draw from them appropriate conclusions. Exposition of these values therefore forms the body of this paper. Historically, every political society has recognized that the family is the essential and basic unit of social organization, and has given to it every favor and protection.2 This has been true in our own American legal history. Corpus Juris 3 defines marriage as a status