Three stories above the fold on Page 1 in today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette offer a glimpse into our culture's misguided priorities. The lede story is on the proposed "stimulus plan" -- more money, more money, more money. Another story is on the decline of the family unit as seen in recent research on marriage rates, divorce rates and the number of couples who live together without any formal commitment. The third story is about the new president lifting bans that made it more difficult to kill babies before they are born.
quotes of interest.
"They (folks who live together but aren't married) can amass a good financial foundation and still be sexually satisfied."-- Rebecca Ward, social worker and family therapist.
Comment: I wonder if Ms Ward believes that or is stating that she thinks it's the reasoning many non-married sexually active couples would give for not getting married. Most research I've read shows that married couples report much higher levels of sexual satisfaction than non-married couples. I can't recall research on which couplets do best at amassing financial fortunes, but is that really the measuring stick for happiness, success, joy, peace?
"America can survive a financial crisis, it already has survived several of them, but it cannot survive the demise of it's most basic unit of civilization -- marriage and the family." --Dennis Rainey of FamilyLife, noting that there were 430,000 unmarried couples living together in America in 1960 and 6.4 million in 2007.
Comment: is it a stretch to think that our transition from a country that valued life and commitment in marriage and the importance of good mothers and fathers into a country that values self-focused goals and ambitions might somehow form a connection to the greed and the lack of accountability/personal responsibility that brought on our national economic crisis?
1 comment:
Great conclusion: I have also pondered the connection between our deconstruction of marriage and family and the sudden fall from our economic high horse.
We seem to have lost the value of building into life. We want instant gratification, whether it be sexual or material, assuming that life can be maximized in fulfilling our lusts.
There's a good bit to be said for the value of being inconvenienced, of selflessly building into the the life of someone or into something bigger than yourself, with little thought of personal gain. The end product of such pursuits is a satisfaction that goes well beyond the sensory to the core of what gives us value as individuals.
Post a Comment