Married people who practice their religion have more sex, study shows

PRESS REVIEW – Monday, September 28: Papers discuss the Orange Order parade standoff in Northern Ireland. Also, who are the suspects in the RAF base terror plot? Finally, we look at some of the latest data on relationships.

Amid a standoff in Northern Ireland over a Protestant parade, the headline of The Irish News reads "We don't want this. We just want to live in peace". It's a quote by a mother of a Catholic child who died during the Drumcree parading dispute 30 years ago. The height of that dispute came in the 1990s, when several Catholic children died in a petrol bomb attack on their home by the Ulster Volunteer Force. The mother says she feels "traumatised" and as if history is repeating itself.

The BBC explains that the "Orange Order march row goes to the heart of the ongoing divisions in Northern Ireland". The article says that chamber disputes between unionists and nationalists happen almost every week. But ground-level arguments like this one are rare. The Orange Order is a Protestant, pro-British organisation and the area where it wants to march is mostly Catholic and has pro-Irish nationalists. The article reminds us that in the 1990s, the dispute spread to other places and "almost derailed the peace process". But while it was never resolved, it slowly faded. 

But The Guardian writes that the "Drumcree stand-off shows Northern Ireland's troubled past still threatens its peace". The paper says the conflict reminds us "how easily history can undermine the present – if imperfect – peace and stability". The Guardian says that today's Northern Ireland is very different from that of three decades ago: there is no longer a unionist majority and First Minister Michelle O'Neill is from Sinn Féin, a party focused on achieving a united Ireland. 

Next, an analysis piece in The Times says that the "RAF bases have long been targets of terror attacks". Counterterrorism police haven't ruled out the possibility that Islamists are behind Sunday's foiled plot. But British bases have also been on alert since this summer, when Iran said that anyone assisting the United States air strikes in the Middle East was a "legitimate target". This means that Iran is a suspect. The Times concludes that "any involvement of Tehran would prove a major escalation". 

Finally, we look at articles discussing some new relationship data. The Guardian explains that marriages that end in divorce today last longer than at any point since records began. One hypothesis says that couples may be delaying the legal end until they can afford what comes next. There are other hypotheses, like delaying divorce because of Covid-19 or also overall external uncertainty, like the environment, politics, etc. The Guardian also reminds us that women are mostly the ones who ask for divorce. 

But what about couples who are doing well? It it turns out that regular churchgoers – married men and women – have more sex than secular couples, The Atlantic reports. Mostly Christians were interviewed, but there were some Muslim and Jewish people too. Those surveyed live in the United States and attend religious services at least twice a month. So according to this study, it seems like religious couples have avoided the "sex recession". Could this be just wives feeling obliged to sleep with their husbands? According to the data, they actually describe their sex life as "excellent" or "very good". 

However, we should take all this data with a pinch of salt as the survey in question was conducted by the Institute for Family Studies, a conservative think tank that aims to strengthen marriage and promote traditional family structures. Also, we don't know if gay couples were even surveyed.

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.