World News and Trends: The perils of going it alone
A feature article in USA Today, quoting a recognized authority, catches one's eye.
It said: "With the increase in the divorce rate, the increase in the age at which people first get married and with our increasing longevity, the experience of being single is now one of the most widely shared experiences of adulthood." So says Bella DePaulo, visiting professor of psychology at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Nearly 10 percent of Americans live by themselves. If you add those who are cohabiting, whether in college dorms or elsewhere, the ranks of the singles swell even more: from 38 million in 1970 to 82 million in 2000. Singles constitute about 40 percent of the U.S. adult population.
In Genesis 2:18 God makes it clear that "it is not good for the man to be alone." This is the wisdom of our Creator, who knows us better than we know ourselves. So the lonesome Adam woke up from a deep sleep to find Eve standing by his side. God joined them together in marriage and thus set the divinely intended social pattern for humanity.
The tragic fruits of not heeding our Creator's advice are apparent all around us. Suzanne Fields, columnist for The Washington Times, recently reviewed a book called The Broken Hearth by William Bennett. She summed up an aspect of his worrying assessment of our social plight today: "Those who do not marry are having sexual relations at an earlier age, and contracting sexually transmitted diseases at much higher rates, cohabiting in unprecedented numbers, and having a record number of children out of wedlock."
Of course, not everyone needs to marry to live a happy and moral life. Undoubtedly single life will work out better for a relatively small minority. But, if men and women follow God's laws, marriage is by far the best option for most people if they want reasonable health, happiness and a longer life. To learn more, please request our free booklet Making Life Work. (Sources: USA Today, The Washington Times.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: January - February 2002
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Melvin Rhodes
Melvin Rhodes is a member of the United Church of God congregation in Lansing, Michigan.
