We live in a splintered world. Each week Time magazine has a section on "The World" - revealing revolution, apartheid, violence and cruelty, along with occasional good news. There is also a section on "The Nation," frequently revealing these same things closer to home.

There is evidence of splintered families all around us and among us. A cartoon strip showed a young woman talking to a minister. She said, "John and I are having a terrible time, and we need your advice. We are trying to decide how to divide the furniture, who gets what of the money we’ve saved and who gets custody of the children."

"Oh," the minister asked, "are you contemplating divorce?"

"Oh, no," she replied. "We are trying to work out our prenuptial agreement."

There are devout Christian parents who, as far as they …