Fathers and the Family Proclamation

This is the first of a three-part series on paragraph 7 in The Family: A Proclamation to the World. This one is on Fathers, the second is on Mothers, and the third is on Equal Partnership. Although we address each of these three in detail in separate essays, of course, fathering, mothering, and equal partnership are intricately interwoven in actual practice.

For example, in preparing to discuss the divine call to fathers to “preside, provide, and protect,” we quote from the sixth paragraph, “Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to care for each other and for their children. … Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness.” These two sentences call for couples to work closely together as spouses and parents.

The seventh paragraph of the Family Proclamation covers several important issues and is the longest (it is about twice as long as the next longest paragraph). We have been asked to focus on certain issues in the second half of the paragraph. Before we address those in detail (in this essay and the other two), we wish to make a couple of brief comments on ideas in the first half of the paragraph.

The Family Proclamation teems with words and phrases like “solemn responsibility” and “sacred duty” and “accountable (twice)” and “responsible” and “sacred responsibilities” and “obligated,” whereas the only time a word like “entitled” is used is in the statement, “Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.” In other words, the Family Proclamation is not about privileges or perks but about responsibly caring for others. The fact that adults are charged to provide children with a lasting two-parent marriage characterized by “complete fidelity” speaks to the importance of such relationships to the most vulnerable among us, our children, whom Jesus said to care for (see Matthew 25:40 on “the least of these”).

We wish we had space to more fully address the two sentences. “Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.” We point the reader to this document, which includes links to more than 200 articles and chapters for scholarly and general audiences that we have written that deal with many aspects of the Family Proclamation, including these nine important principles. It also includes lists of podcasts, videos, and other media on Proclamation-related matters created by the American Families of Faith Project.

To read the entire article: Public Square Magazine