Regarding the Aug. 7 column “With divorce rate high, let’s try ‘wedleases’ ”: The vast majority of people agree that the divorce rate in the U.S. is much higher than it should be. Just in my lifetime, I have seen the rate rise from 1 in 8 marriages ending in divorce to an appalling 1 in 2. This is equivalent to flipping a coin at the altar: heads you will stay married, tails you will get a divorce. It is truly sad that our society has reduced the sanctity of marriage to simply a matter of convenience.

The solution to this problem is not “wedleases.” The idea of marriage is a lifetime commitment, not a process of trial and error. The idea of temporary “wedleases” is insulting to those of us who have worked hard to keep our marriages sacred and our commitment to the principles of marriage strong.

There is no way to “fix” the problem without changing the way society views commitment. The answer is definitely not to lessen the importance of commitment or to make it “easier” to leave children in a single-parent family.

If marriages were set up to be temporary, the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, single-parent families and infidelity would vastly increase and would only be teaching America’s youth that commitment means nothing and that honoring your word is not important.

Scott A. Hopkins

Princeton, Ind.

USFK policy wastes money

The Defense Department is now soliciting suggestions for how to save money. U.S. Forces Korea should rewrite Regulation 700-19 and exclude the term “ordinarily resident in Korea.” This would make it possible for DOD-contracted companies to hire people already living here in South Korea and reduce the cost of DOD contracts. The savings would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars at least, more likely in the millions.

Other than preventing DOD retirees living in South Korea from working as DOD contractors, I can’t even imagine what purpose that phrase was intended to accomplish.

If DOD officials do not do this, then they aren’t really that serious about saving money. After all, taxpayers will foot the bill.

Tech. Sgt. Charles M. Lacy (retired)

Songtan, South Korea

Migrated