Gotta love economists:
I constructed a dummy variable indicating whether a person is now, or ever was, divorced. I then regressed this on the GSS's 3-point Biblical literalism scale. With no control variables, there is no visible connection between the two. Controlling for church attendance, Biblical literalists actually look more likely to divorce. (Church attendance works as expected - more church, less divorce). Controlling for education (and any other demographics you might care to use), the effect of Biblical literalism is statistically insignificant, but still has the wrong sign (i.e., Biblical literalists are a tiny bit more likely to divorce).
And, as all coastal elites know, Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the nation. Indeed, blue states generally have lower divorce rates. That's likely an effect of income and education, not social mores or virtue. And it's good to hear that fundamentalism doesn't interfere with freedom: Many marriages are bad, and society's expectations shouldn't trap individuals in them.
