The Family - The Bastion for Freedom

(© Ariel Skelley/Corbis.)

I've been thinking about the family much over that past couple of weeks. We are living in a time when the family is under attack. Every where we turn, we see that the family is directly or indirectly being undermined, devalued and even attempted to be redefined.

How long will it take for us to realize that the traditional family is the basis for a strong nation?

Elder Russell M. Ballard  of the LDS Church said,
"It is our homes and families that need reforming in this increasingly materialistic and secular world. A stunning example is the growing disregard for marriage here in the United States. Earlier this year the New York Times reported that “the share of children born to unmarried women has crossed a threshold: more than half of births to American women under 30 occur outside marriage” (Jason DeParle and Sabrina Tavernise, “Unwed Mothers Now a Majority Before Age of 30,” New York Times, Feb. 18, 2012, A1).

It seems that as I look at our society promiscuity is the norm, abortion is the preference and marriage between man and woman is viewed as old fashioned and even disdained.

The cultural shift away from the traditional family and the consequences of this shift are rippling through our society. Many children are left fatherless. Many children come home to empty homes. The large majority of prisoners in our criminal justice system are from broken homes.

My heart aches when I see a single mother valiantly taking on the double burden of raising her children. While I see her courage and determination to raise her children I know that many nights, after putting her children to bed, she collapses in tears; tired, frustrated, disappointed and alone wondering how she will find the strength for tomorrow.

We try to augment this lack of familial foundation through governmental programs. While these programs have their place, what we really need is a clarion call to perserve the traditional family. There is no other way to perserve the people of our great land.

Pres. Joseph F. Smith of the LDS Church said; “There can be no genuine happiness separate and apart from the home. … There is no happiness without service, and there is no service greater than that which converts the home into a divine institution, and which promotes and preserves family life. … The home is what needs reforming” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith[1998], 382, 384).

I believe the clarion call to preserve the traditional family was made on September 23, 1995 not only to the LDS Church but to the world in a proclamation titled, "The Family: A Proclamation to The World" http://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation

If we want to refortify our people, if we want to perserve America as the Land of the free, we must preserve and protect the family for it is the first and last bastion of freedom.