THE CITY

The City
cultural pathology of regarding fathers as an optional appendage
for child-rearing. A society that fails to teach its young males that
they are unambiguously responsible for their offspring will have a
hard time inculcating other fundamental duties. Unfortunately,
family breakdown isn’t amenable to public-policy solutions,
since it results from something more profound than misguided
tax structure or welfare rules … the biggest culprit is feminism’s
devaluing of males and the conceit that ‘strong women’ can do
it all … Family decline will be stemmed only when it is widely
understood that care provided by both biological parents is the
most powerful social and economic advantage that any child can
enjoy. 11
Morals and manners -- more than government or legislation -- primarily
shape the direction, scope, and currents of a great nation like ours. Any
hope for renewal and regeneration will likely arise from our families with
active and involved dads, churches that foster family cohesiveness, and
ministries that make strong, nuclear families a priority.
The legacy of The Moynihan Report 50 years later confirms what his
great friend George Will said about “the ecology of a nation,” namely that
“The most important business of [this] generation is the raising of the
next generation.” 12
11
http://www.wsj.com/articles/ideas-for-renewing-american-prosperity-1404777194?cb=
logged0.7139908756860458, date accessed November 27, 2015.
12
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/pdf/sepoct15/files/basic-html/page10.html,,
date accessed November 27, 2015.
TIMOTHY S. GOEGLEIN is the Vice President
of External Relations at Focus on the Family in
Washington, D.C. He is the author of the political
memoir The Man in the Middle: An Inside Account of Faith
and Politics in the George W. Bush Era.
12