Oh Valentine's Day. How I loathe thee.
It's another Hallmark holiday in my book. No good reason to have it other than to sell chocolates, stuffed animals, lingerie and help someone turn a profit in my book. But this isn't a blog about Valentine's Day. At least not today. Today, I want to talk about marriage.
Recently, the assistant to the bishop in our synod posted a question on our Facebook page. Paraphrased it reads, "Based on the fact that 54% of children are now born out of wedlock, what does that mean for the church in the U.S."
I didn't respond. Too much anger welling up within me to respond.
You see, I am old fashioned. I believe that children should be raised within the bounds of a married couple. The fact that 54% of children are born out of wedlock tells me at least a couple of things:
People are not waiting for sex until they find their spouse.
Those 54% of kids have the odds stacked against them socially and economically.
The institution of marriage is in decline--for a myriad of reasons not the least of which is a media driven part of society which demeans it.
The church is doing a darn poor job of influencing the surrounding culture regarding sex, marriage, divorce, and the like. And there are those in the church who themselves attack the very foundations of sex, marriage, divorce, and the like.
For someone who sits where I sit, it causes me anger. I would probably be better off not even posting this blog, but I'm going to do it anyway because I feel strongly about the institution of marriage. I feel strongly about the institution of family and child rearing within a family. I feel strongly that the church and it's representatives should be leading the charge saying that 54% of children born out of wedlock is unacceptable and that we should be calling for much, much more that just "safe sex."
Side note: It's quite mysterious to me to hear people complain about abstinence teachings and that they don't work when it is oh so obvious that what we are currently doing now in promoting safe sex is working oh so well. O.K. I'm turning the sarcasm off now.
I will leave you with a couple of news stories and opinion pieces that I've found helpful.
Here's a secret -- marriage is America’s most effective anti-poverty program
A Man's Top 5 Reasons to Get Married
And to prove "safe sex" teachings have failed:
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