I checked out reason. All that proves is that superstition can over come reason no matter the other accomplishments.

He and his wife are considering a divorce----from something they have held close to their hearts for 40-50 years. They know or suspect their friendships with other members of the church will be gone and will disown or shun them. They may believe they have been lied to by their churches, by Christianity and now they have nothing to fall back on, the majority of their support system will be gone. My suggestion is to simply keep being a friend and support them as they want to be supported.