Description
Book SynopsisFor Better, for Worse discusses the shame narratives tied to divorce, rooted in Christian theologies of marriage and U.S. political landscapes of marriage rights and regulation. Using interdisciplinary methods, Natalie E. Williams investigates the current conflict between social practices that normalize divorce and religious and political rhetorical narratives that continue to shame those who divorce. Williams's work seeks to understand current attitudes and policies related to divorce and to shape Christian ethical responses that resist the use of shame, relying instead on commitments to truth-telling and a cultivation of “shamelessness” to support flourishing across a spectrum of family forms.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why Divorce Matters Now: Origins of the U.S. “Divorce Crisis” 1. The Theo-ethical History of Marriage and the U.S. Divorce Landscape 2. Shame in the Moral Frameworks of Marriage Regulation 3. Fetishizing the Family: Shame in Christian Divorce Doctrines 4. U.S. Divorce Policies and “Family Values” Rhetoric 5. Queer Resistance and Gay Assimilation: Marriage (and Divorce) Equality 6. Resisting Shame and Reimagining Family Success
