Marriage and Family, Faith, and Spirituality among Emerging Adults

• December 2008: Bristol Palin becomes an unmarried, teenage mother; her mother is a staunch evangelical Christian and Republican vice presidential nominee. • April 2009: After Mel Gibson’s mistress becomes pregnant, his wife of 28 years and mother of his six children files for divorce; Mel is a devout Catholic and director/producer of The Passion of the Christ, a $370 million hit accused of inflaming intolerance of Jews. • June 2009: Governor Mark Sanford becomes tearful as he explains his extramarital affair, saying, “I had met my soul mate”; he and his wife spent the prior six months attending a weekly religious support group for couples.