[noone]

There's a sad point I have to agree with almost. In many fundamental churches, divorce is not considered when someone comes forward for membership. However, in Baptist churches, there is no such thing as annulment, either, so there are two sides to that coin. A Marriage is a marriage, period.

A lawful marriage is a marriage, period. I'm pretty sure Baptists recognize the concept of unlawful marriages. Such as shotgun marriages -- If the compelled party escapes after the wedding (assume no pregnancy here), and gets a civil divorce, is he forbidden from getting married voluntarily later? What if cousins or siblings marry? What if a backsliding church member gets married to an unbeliever in a civil ceremony, then comes to her senses? A Buddhist ceremony? A ceremony at the local Temple of the Frog Goddess? A New Age ceremony where the commitment made is not "till death do us part," but "so long as we both are fulfilled?" What about a church ceremony where one or both of the parties was too drunk or mentally impaired to comprehend what they were doing?

I think that allowing divorce and remarriage for frivolous reasons makes a mockery of marriage, but so does recognizing as marriage everything that purports to be marriage.

I'm Southern, so I'm reluctant to bring up these examples when talking about the majority religion in my region (Baptists) -- lest anyone get the wrong idea, please assume my more gothic examples are taking place in California. (where are you going to find a Buddhist or Frog Goddess temple in the South -- outside Atlanta -- anyway?)

[RaceBannon]

I'm pretty sure Baptists recognize the concept of unlawful marriages

The examples are too numerous to respond to right now, this late, but, no, there are no illegal marriages, but there may be some wrong ones. Either way, while a marriage may be dissolved, there remains the fact that a marriage occured previously, whether moral or otherwise (You mentioned incestuous types). Marriage is Marriage, and a Marriage is never not a marriage, just a past marriage.

There is no prevention against divorcees becoming members of a local assembly, but there is a condemnation by Jesus that those who marry divorcees are living in a state of adultery, so the Local church should consider this, and probably decide against for mal membership because Jesus Himself calls this sin. That does not mean the couple cannot attend worship, nor does it mean their children are condemned y God or something, just that they are in sin. God can still bless them but never the way He would have if there were no previous marriages.

With the commanality of divorce today, if all divorcees were prevented from worship, 1/4 to half the church populations would disappear, regardless of what denomination.