imple exercise. Some blame general economic conditions, others point to policies that disincentives family formation and still others emphasize the role of destructive socio-cultural factors. All are likely at play.
Given what is at stake — the individual well-being of the rising generation and the collective well-being of our communities — it is critical that society seek a cure for the social cancer of family disintegration.
In addition to revitalizing the family-affirming role of faith, our own hypothesis is that much of the job of reclaiming marriage and family needs to take place within our culture. What would happen, for example, if the purveyors of media that weakens and degrades marital commitment could actually see the increased mental health problems, delinquency and substance abuse in the children of relationships that have been shattered by selfishness and infidelity?
If popular culture were genuinely concerned with protecting children from the worst aspects of poverty it would, instead of dwelling on sensuality and violence, actively promote attitudes and behaviors consistent with flourishing, stable marriage. It would honor and enhance our moral sense rather than beguile, shock and titillate.
Stable families have proven to be the most effective method for nurturing children, teaching responsibility, refining adults, stabilizing society and ensuring prosperity. Families are not fool proof organizations, but even when they are less than perfect, they are far more responsive to individual needs than the best designed bureaucracy.
Our nation's educated elite seems to know this. In their own prosperous lives, stable traditional marriage and committed parenthood are still the dominant structures of family life. The time is long overdue for them to begin sharing this socio-cultural secret for acquiring and preserving wealth more effectively with the rest of society.
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