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According
to a 2006 study released by the Barna Institute, 86%
of Americans are "concerned about the moral condition
of the country" - and they should be. The family
- the bedrock of our society and our freedoms - is in
a heap of trouble. Consider the statistics: Approximately
50% of all marriages - even among professed evangelical
Christians - end in divorce. That's according to the
National Marriage Project, a research organization at
Rutgers University. And for the first time in American
history, as the U.S. Census
Bureau recently reported, married couples make up less
than 50% of American households. Nearly 40% of all U.S.
children are born out of wedlock. According to a recent
government report, the number of unmarried-couple households
with children has risen to more than 1.7 million-up
from under 200,000 in 1970. The ramifications are alarming.
For example, children living with a single mother are
six times more likely to live in poverty than are children
whose parents are married.
The same study found that children in stepfamilies and
single-parent families are almost three times more likely
to drop out of school than children in intact families.
Living in a single-parent home also causes a disconnect
among children between family and marriage. Finally,
43% of all U.S. women will have at least one abortion
before their 45th birthday. In fact, according to the
Guttmacher Institute, the most common surgical procedure
in the United States is not by-pass surgery or even
cosmetic surgery-it is abortion.
Indeed, in 2002, approximately 1.29 million women in
the U.S. had an abortion, and 49% of all unintended
pregnancies today result in abortion.
These
statistics tell some painful truths about America at
the dawn of the new millennium. First, they show that
our priorities have clearly shifted. Despite
the billions we spend on childcare, toys, clothes, private
lessons, etc., a concern for our children no longer
seems to be a prime factor in how we live our lives.
Second,
they suggest (as many have been saying for years now)
that major religious institutions have virtually little
to no moral impact on American society - apart from
politics, that is. The Christian church is a prime example.
Having become intensely political, Christian leaders
today work feverishly to enact such anti-gay measures
as same-sex marriage amendments while doing little to
shore up the traditional family.
Third,
the data supports the premise that the decline in the
family leads to a decline in our democracy. Indeed,
the family is where children should learn self-government,
basic moral values and the beliefs that determine the
future of democratic institutions. Thus, it stands to
reason that without stable families, we can have no
hope of producing self-reliant, responsible citizens.
Fourth,
the increasing loss of the family structure leads to
destabilization in society of "mediating structures"
- neighborhoods, families, churches, schools and voluntary
associations. When they function as they should, mediating
structures limit the growth of the government. But when
these structures break down, society - that is, people
- look to mega-structures, such as the state, as a source
of values. In America, the state-financed public schools
and day care centers have increasingly assumed the role
of providing "values" for children. As history
teaches, the authoritarian state gladly and aggressively
assumes this role and becomes a substitute family.
Finally,
traditional marriage plays a critical role in the structure
of free societies by interposing a significant legal
entity between the individual and the state. None other
than D.H. Lawrence once recognized:
"The marriage bond is the fundamental connecting
link in Christian society. Break it, and you will
have to go back to the overwhelming dominance of the
State, which existed before the Christian era. The
Roman State was all-powerful, the Roman father represented
the State, the Roman family was the father's estate,
held more or less in fee for the State itself. Now
the question is, do we want to go back, or forward,
to any of these forms of State control?"
Lawrence
continued:
"It
is marriage, perhaps, which has given man the best
of his freedom, given him his little kingdom of his
own within the big kingdom of the State, given him
his foothold of independence on which to stand and
resist an unjust State. Man and wife, a king and queen
with one or two subjects, and a few square yards of
territory of their own: this, really, is marriage.
It is a true freedom because it is a true fulfillment,
for man, woman, and children."
There
can be no easy fix for these problems. Certainly, there
are no legislative or governmental solutions. Morality
and the decline of the family have become convenient
platforms for those on both sides of the political aisle.
Having reduced the very real problems plaguing America's
families to soundbites bandied about in the quest for
political dominance, today's politicians are the last
people to look to for a solution.
The
solution, if there is one, is to be found where the
problems start: with each man, woman and child taking
responsibility for keeping their family together. So
for a moment, let's forget about politics. Forget about
the debates over who gets to marry whom. Instead, let's
look around at what's left of our neighborhoods, what's
left of our communities and what's left of our families
and put our kids first.
Because
the bottom line is this: without the family, there can
be no true freedom.
Constitutional
attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder
and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be
contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
Information about The Rutherford Institute is available
at www.rutherford.org.
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