New TV Show Tackles Source of Marriage Problems
A brand new television series will begin airing next month to expose what one marriage expert believes is the true source of marriage problems.
"We created this show with several purposes in mind," says Mark Gungor, a pastor, author and a highly sought speaker on marriage and family.
"The first, obviously, is to share the truth about why marriages fail – and how we can keep that from happening," he says.
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According to the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control, the marriage rate in 2005 was 7.5 per 1,000 total population while the divorce rate was 3.6 per 1,000.
Furthermore, the more recent Values and Beliefs survey conducted last year by the Gallup Organization found that an alarming 70 percent of Americans now believe that divorce is "morally acceptable." The latest figure – the highest on record – represents an 11 percent increase from just 7 years ago and a 3 percent increase from 2 years ago.
Though many are trying to salvage their marriages, turning to marriage therapists or searching for ways to "spice up their lovemaking," the divorce rate continues to rise.
The reason for this, Gungor claims, is that popular thinking focuses on the symptoms of marriage problems rather than addressing the root cause – the flawed notions that shape people's expectations of marriage and their spouses.
According to Gungor, Americans today live in an over-romanticized culture. So by the time people get married, their ideas of what marriage should be like bear little resemblance to reality. Some come to believe it's impossible to make women happy, some come to believe that it's better not to marry young, and some come to believe divorce is the natural response to unhappiness, among other marriage myths that Americans tend to believe in.
"As a pastor, I see this all the time," says Gungor.
Knowing this, the new show, which will initially air on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and Sky Angel, will seek to break down the most common marriage myths, or "stinking thinking," as Gungor puts it, and replace them with the "truths" that can save a marriage.
Joining Gungor on the show will be actress and co-host Nancy Stafford, who will engage him in a lively discussion from a woman's perspective. Stafford is a published author who has been married for nearly twenty years to a California pastor.
Though the issue of marriage is a serious one, the show will offer viewers an "all-around entertaining, uplifting, good time," according to the show's promoters, and features a house band led by blues recording artist Jimmie Bratcher.
"Viewers will be hooked from the first monologue and intrigued with Gungor and Stafford's pithy interaction as they laugh their way to a better marriage," they say.
The program is expected to air on additional networks in the near future.
On the Web:
More information and a listing of stations/times for airing at www.laughyourway.com.
