This is an opinion column with no set subject, which is fun because I can write whatever is on my mind. Sometimes that's politics. Other times it is education. Other times it is rural life, family, literature, travel. People often write to me for advice. Sometimes it is questions about faith. Relationships. Parenting. Women's issues. And many times, subjects in those categories overlap. We humans are not one-dimensional.

Today I want to respond to several emails asking for specifics about how my religion influenced my thinking about marriage before I ended mine in divorce. Maybe some readers don't believe me. Probably most do believe me that it did, but may not be able to relate. They either don't feel badly influenced by their religion, even if they are from the same background as mine; or they do, but it is just that: a feeling that doesn't sit right with them, but they can't identify specifics.

I have been thinking about the bad advice I got about marriage that I hope no one else will ever listen to. But the sad truth is I know this advice is still rampant in conservative evangelical churches and groups like the one I was a part of in college, called Student Mobilization. I still have friends in the organization. It is still active on university campuses all over the........

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