After 8 months of marriage Christian Congressman Madison Cawthorn is getting a divorce
Madison Cawthorn, a Republican congressman from North Carolina, announced Wednesday that he and his wife of eight months have mutually decided to get a divorce.
“When my wife Cristina and I were engaged, I was not a member of Congress. I felt called to serve and we both agreed that I should run. Our victory was unprecedented, but overnight our lives changed. That change has been both hectic and difficult, it’s neither the pace nor the lifestyle we had planned for,” Cawthorn said in a statement Wednesday evening.
“From the outset, we committed to make things work, to fight for our marriage, and seek counsel for balancing the enormity of such a transition in life. Together we realized that balance was not attainable, and that we had irreconcilable differences between us. While it was an enormously difficult decision, Cristina and I have mutually decided to divorce. We ask for privacy as we work through this privately,” he added.’
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Cawthorn, 26, and his wife, Cristina, got married on April 3, 2021, on the seventh anniversary of the car accident that left him partially paralyzed and needing the use of a wheelchair.
“On April 3rd of 2014 my life changed. A car accident put me in a wheelchair and dashed my hopes for the future. On April 3rd of 2021 my life has once again changed,” he announced on Twitter. “Marrying Cristina Bayardelle, now Cristina Cawthorn is the greatest honor, privilege and adventure of my life.”
On April 3rd of 2014 my life changed. A car accident put me in a wheelchair and dashed my hopes for the future. On April 3rd of 2021 my life has once again changed. Marrying Cristina Bayardelle, now Cristina Cawthorn is the greatest honor, privilege and adventure of my life. pic.twitter.com/bqmtAUbsIS
— Rep. Madison Cawthorn (@RepCawthorn) April 4, 2021
During a speech at AmericaFest 2021 on Tuesday, Cawthorn described himself as a “devout Christian” and urged young conservatives to skip college because it was a “scam,” and be a Christian, marry young and have as many babies as they could.
“I’ll tell you, I’m a devout Christian. I’ve got a great relationship with my Lord and Savior. And so, of course, I love being able to help people. I love taking care of people. I think we should send missionaries out into the world. We should bring people to Christ,” he said.
“People will call me a radical for believing that you should be a Christian, you should get married young, you should have as many kids as possible, you should try and have a great job, you should be as successful as you possibly can, they’ll say I’m extremist for that,” Cawthorn said.
“I think you should homeschool. I was homeschooled all the way through,” he added. “I am proudly a college dropout. If you are not becoming an engineer or a doctor or a lawyer, I highly encourage you to drop out. It’s a scam.”
When it comes to divorce, many conservatives frown upon the idea, but the Bible allows divorce under certain circumstances, such as the infidelity of a spouse.
A new research brief from the Institute of Family Studies also suggested that religious marriages are slightly less likely to end in divorce because these couples are less likely to seek cohabitation before marriage, which is a known risk factor for divorce.
The brief, which crunched data from more than 53,000 women ages 15 to 49 from the National Survey of Family Growth from 1995 to 2019, shows how age at the time of marriage is also a factor. Depending on when marriage happens for a woman, however, the impact of religion on divorce can also have no effect.
