Question:
How are adultery and divorce viewed in your faith?
Answer: In terms of gravity, we
would have to make a necessary distinction between adultery and
divorce, adultery being one of the most serious of sins, once an
individual has accepted the authority of divine law. In a religion that
has unity in all its forms (unity of God, oneness of humanity, oneness
of the world’s religions) as its fundamental teaching, it
follows that divorce would be condemned in the Bahá’í Faith. It is,
however, permitted after a Year of Waiting, if the couple is unable to
reconcile and to overcome their feeling of aversion for one another, or
of one for the other. No grounds exist per se for Bahá’í divorce other
than the destruction of mutual love and affection which results in
aversion, antipathy or estrangement. Couples who are markedly averse to
one another are not condemned by Bahá’í law to live in a loveless
marriage.
Why is adultery such a serious sin? In the Bahá’í view, marriage is an
eternal divine institution, one that belongs exclusively to men and
women. Although it is being undermined in contemporary society, it will
remain the means of mutual assistance and comfort, and as the
foundation of the nuclear family, the most fundamental unit of societal
life. Marriage is also one of several, concrete, living symbols of
fidelity, love and unity: love and fidelity between the couple, their
love and fidelity to God, their unity both as a couple and in their
love and understanding of and service to God. Adultery breaks this
covenant and retards the progress of the soul who commits
it.
During the Year of Waiting, the couple must live apart, have no sexual
relationship—sexual intercourse cancels the Year of Waiting—and attempt
reconciliation by availing themselves of professional
counselling, if both parties are willing. If no reconciliation takes
place, then divorce will follow the end of the Year of Waiting. The
happier outcome would be that the year apart witnesses a composing of
differences and a reawakening of mutual love. -
Jack
McLean
