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3 St. Louis U. L.J. 253 (1954-1955)
The Religious Factors in Divorce and Annulment

handle is hein.journals/stlulj3 and id is 265 raw text is: Notes The Religious Factors in Divorce and Annulment JOHN E. DUNSFORD The man who first said Marriages are made in Heaven placed an onerous responsibility on his Deity. And though it is not the pur- pose of this paper to invert that proposition and claim that divorces are made in heaven, there is nevertheless evidence to show that a small, bitter portion of our domestic litigation is grounded on reli- gious differences or, more appropriately in some cases, fabricated around religious conflicts. Legal principles applied to these disputes have illumined some fun- damental questions in the whole church-state problem. The courts are called upon to determine if our constitutional freedom of religion is involved in such actions; if the dogmas of religious sects are ad- missible in the judiciary of a democracy; if genuine and deep-rooted religious beliefs take precedence over civil law. Pre-nuptial promises are the most prolific cause of religious differ- ences leading to the courts. The same spouses who are April when they woo, December when they wed' are apt to make haste slowly in the matter of fulfilling a promise to adopt another faith, or partici- pate in a ceremony with benefit of clergy. A casual and unredeemed promise to adopt the spouse's faith after marriage is not considered sufficient for annulment where ordinary care would have revealed the falsity of the promise.' Courts are in- clined to question a plaintiff's reliance on such a pledge since ac- cepting a religion is obviously not like donning a new suit of clothes.' 1. Shakespeare was referring to men with these words, but Ithe rest of the quotation may also be legally applicable: maids are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives. 2. Dodge v. Dodge, 64 N.Y.S.2d 264 (Sup. Ct. 1946). But see Hides v. Hides, 65 How. Pr. 17 (1883), where a man's senility was taken into account in an action for annulment on the fraudulent statements of the woman that she was a clair- voyant physician, and that the spirits commanded they should be married. Although a pre-nuptial promise to adopt a faith was not at issue, the court's words (at 50) would seem to apply to that situation: It may be that a person of ordinary prudence would not have been deceived by such representations but the law does not out- law from its protection the old, the weak and the infirm. 3. Nilsen v. Nilsen, 66 N.Y.S.2d 204 (Sup. Ct. 1946). The court reasoned that recognition of fraud here would take it into spheres outside of marriage.

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