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I think it’s safe to say that we’re all aware of the fact that Tom Cruise’s marriage to Katie Holmes is set to end in divorce by now. Following it having emerged that the 33 year-old actress has already begun the process of ending her five year marriage to Cruise, the tabloids have engaged in the usual frenzy. Nothing appeases a tabloid reader quite as much as news of the latest celebrity divorce, after all. Whilst it is currently hard to envisage the day where this story will, like many before it, fade into the ether of celebrity tattle of old, though, we can derive positives from it by considering how this celebrity divorce provides dissatisfied spouses with examples of how not to address marital dissatisfaction and potentially avoid divorce. The issue on the agenda here is compromise. Several reports have indicated that Holmes decided to divorce Cruise as a result of his unwavering dedication to Scientology and his insistence that the couple’s six-year-old daughter, Suri, practise the religion. The doctrine of Scientology claims that children are to be treated as adults and reports have indicated that this caused dispute with Cruise leaving Suri free to make her own decisions and Holmes feeling that she should be treated like any other six-year-old child. Several accounts have also claimed that Cruise intended to send Suri to study Scientology with an organisation known as Sea Org. Take the fact that Holmes was raised as a strict Roman Catholic and it comes as no surprise that she is seeking sole legal custody of Suri. One cannot help but feel that both Cruise and Holmes would have done well to remember that numerous couples from different cultural and religious backgrounds have had successful marriages and, indeed, excellent parents. The key, put simply, is compromise. We all have beliefs that we are passionate about and views that we hold close to our hearts. It is perfectly understandable that we would want our children to share these. Unfortunately, our partners can, and often do, disagree with our beliefs and can feel that children of the family should either be raised in accordance with their beliefs or that the children be left to make their own decisions regarding their religion, political beliefs and so on. Whilst this may incite feelings of anger and significant dispute, it is important for each spouse to realise that their partners are not being unreasonable. Rather, they have a different opinion and, with the need to negotiate being key to any successful marriage, these opinions must be taken into consideration. When the above set of circumstances apply, both spouses need to respect the other’s point of view, discuss matters and, ultimately, consider what is best for their children before formulating any agreement. It is only those instances in which couples are completely unable to compromise that should end in divorce.