Leaders seek to curb divorce

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Gov. Frank Keating today urged government and religious leaders to rely on basic family values to help curb Oklahoma's high divorce rate. "We need to celebrate the things that

Monday, February 14th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Gov. Frank Keating today urged government and religious leaders to rely on basic family values to help curb Oklahoma's high divorce rate. "We need to celebrate the things that make families secure," Keating said during a Valentine's Day rally on marriage.

Studies show that 70 percent of Oklahomans go to church at least twice a month but that the state still has the second highest divorce rate in the nation. "This isn't Las Vegas," Keating said. "One of the most important things to a family is commitment."

Lowering the divorce rate is one of a series of social goals announced by Keating that includes lowering the substance abuse and child abuse rates and cutting out-of-wedlock births.

Jerry Regier, Keating's secretary of Health and Human Services, said one of the goals of today's conference is to have ministers, priests and other clerics commit to requiring pre-marital counseling before they agree to marry a couple. "Those who get married spend a lot of time getting ready for the wedding but very little time getting ready for the marriage," Regier said. "The church is a natural place where this should and can take place."

Southern Baptists have made premarital counseling the cornerstone of their efforts, said the Rev. Ken Choate. He and others said better education is a proven way to reduce divorce. Choate said Baptists, who lead all Christian denominations in divorce, also will be recruiting and training marriage mentors --people who can talk about their own successful marriages to newly married couples.

Choate said 75 per cent to 80 percent of Oklahoma weddings are performed by ministers and that they need to start holding those they marry to a higher standard.

Regier said plans for this year include trying to set up premarital counseling through local health departments. He said Keating also hopes to fund a scholar in residence at a state university to train people in proven marriage-strengthening techniques.

Other states are also taking steps to shore up their divorce problems. Several states, including Louisiana and Arizona, have passed covenant marriage laws that require married people to undergo counseling and adhere to tough divorce standards. In Utah, the governor appointed a commission to look into the state's divorce problem. Keating supports passage of a covenant marriage bill for Oklahoma. "The uniqueness of the Oklahoma approach is that we are looking at all sectors" of society -- secular, religious, governmental and others, Regier said.