Is Marriage Becoming Obsolete?

Part 2 of a 3 Part Series....

There is no nice way to say this: families are under attack from all over the world.  Media executives might pussy-foot around the truth of the topic but let’s face facts: Families have not been considered a sacred institution for over ten years.

Case in point: A study done by the Pew Research Center shows the changing dynamics of the American family. It is no longer a mother and father couple but guardians or partners.  It is shown that 29 percent of children under the age of 18 now live with a parent or parents who are unwed or no longer married which according to the Pew Report released in November of 2010 shows an “fivefold increase from 1960”.

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Marriage is the concrete that keeps the family together. People who bring children into the world should be committed enough to stay together to raise them. The family is the foundation of our country and this should be the message for parents from all areas of life.

Hope Yen states in her article, No Love, No Marriage, from November 17^th, 2010 that “The changing views of family are being driven largely by young adults 18-29, who are more likely than older generations to have an unmarried or divorced parent or have friends who do.” 

Most Americans might see her thought as a valid one but if we take a closer look to where these ideals are coming from, the driven ideal that marriage is unnecessary, can be traced back to the media news and entertainment world.

We are bombarded by social mores from our own entertainment saying if we are unhappy then do what it takes to make ourselves happy, no matter what.  If we are unhappy in a marriage, get a divorce and find someone else.  If we are unhappy raising children, send them off to someone else.  Never mind getting help to stay and figure out how we can fulfill the roles we had originally chosen instead of giving up.

The creation of same sex-marriage has been in our society for years which has had a detrimental affect on marriage between a man and women. Society’s intellectuals tell us its okay to have both. From David Blankenhorn’s writings, The Future of Marriage, he says this: “One can believe in same-sex marriage. One can believe that every child deserves a mother and a father. One cannot believe both.”  This statement would send the liberal world screaming but it is true. Children need a mother and a father who will raise them with upstanding morals and righteous ideals.

From The Family: A Proclamation to the World it states: “Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness to provide for their physical and spiritual needs to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.”

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From Family Watch International, its founder Sharon Slater says: “Social science research has conclusively proven that a strong family based on marriage between a man and a woman is the best environment to protect, nourish and develop individuals. This family structure provides significantly better outcomes than any alternative structure.”

Just from reading articles and blogs posted online, one can see that the mindset of those single adults discussing the topic of having to be married to be parents are completely different from 20 years ago when most of the world considered marriage an important step to parenthood.

The idea of committing oneself to a life with another scare those who have grown up with divorce as a way out but we must teach our children that divorce is not an option.  Marriage requires work at a relationship and this might be a dirty word to most but a necessary element to a healthy and long lasting marriage, but that is a whole other topic for our next article.....

For now, we must remember that we need to keep marriage in the forefront of our society.