Divorce is now something worth celebrating, apparently.

Bravo’s Below Deck is a guilty pleasure of mine, and while low-IQ debauchery is pretty much the norm, one episode surprised me: a collection of women celebrating a recent divorce. Yes, celebrating.

But such jubilation isn’t limited to cherry-picked reality television. Last week, pro-Trump Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway and anti-Trump lawyer George Conway confirmed that they were getting divorced after 22 years of marriage.

The writing was seemingly on the wall, given that Kellyanne Conway described her husband’s criticism of the then-president during her time in the Trump administration as a betrayal tantamount to “cheating by tweeting.”

Following their announcement, former President Donald Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to congratulate his former adviser.

“Congratulations to Kellyanne Conway on her DIVORCE from her wacko husband, Mr. Kellyanne Conway,” Trump wrote . “Free at last, she has finally gotten rid of the disgusting albatross around her neck. She is a great person, and will now be free to lead the kind of life that she deserves…and it will be a great life without the extremely unattractive loser by her side!”

Gross.

Of course, this is hardly surprising from a man who is more familiar with the divorce system than Henry VIII, with the only consolation being that his numerous ex-wives escaped with their heads.

But let’s not forget: Trump is supposedly the leader of the conservative movement — a movement that claims to value marriage. How can we possibly claim to value marriage when our movement’s supposed leader cheers the divorce of a couple with four children simply because the husband criticized him?

Of course, some divorces are unfortunately necessary — with examples including cases of abuse. But the reality is that divorce has become the norm in the United States, with almost 50% of all marriages ending in divorce or separation. This percentage skyrockets to 60% for second marriages, and 73% of third marriages end in divorce.

And with Trump, a professional divorcer, cheering on the collapse of marriage, how can we be surprised?

The religious view of marriage, in simple terms, is a union representing man and wife becoming “one flesh,” in what is meant to be a lifelong bond built on a somber vow to remain faithful to one another.

But in our modern society, marriage has lost its very identity. Now, marriage is more of an opportunity to post an engagement ring photo on Instagram, spend an absurd amount of money on a wedding that celebrates the bride rather than the bride and groom, and launch an event season that demands an ever-more ridiculous array of gifts: for the engagement party, for the bridal shower, for the bachelorette party, and for the wedding.

And a few months or years later, when the novelty wears off and the reality of commitment leaks in, not to worry! You can just wipe the slate clean and start again.

The problem with the celebration of divorce — beyond the fact that it is tasteless — is that it presents divorce as a guaranteed get-out-of-jail-free card during the act of marriage. With this in mind, marriage vows don’t mean much if you can get divorced whenever you feel like it — let alone the fact that such a divorce will be deemed a moral good.

All the better if you can lose interest in the marriage and then demand 50% of your spouse’s assets — making divorce a profitable venture.

Conservatives are constantly decrying the decline in respect for family, responsibility, and commitment. But if our chosen leader is a few divorces away from a free set of steak knives and is spending his time celebrating the collapse of long-term marriages, perhaps the first step for our movement should be to look in the mirror.

Ian Haworth ( @ighaworth ) is the host of Off Limits with Ian Haworth .