Time To Man-Up Men!!!

For the past 50 years in America we've been allowing our values to erode with respect to in-tact families and the role of fathers and fatherhood. It is helping to create a two-caste system in our culture. In one caste you'll find signficant poverty caused by absent or disengaged fathers and a lack of importance given to becoming better educated and ensuring their kids are too. In the other caste you'll generally find the exact opposite.

For a better description and analysis of the problem and its cause please read these links:
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/06/16/spotlight-on-civil-society-courageous-film-highlights-importance-of-fathers/

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/Married-Fathers-Americas-Greatest-Weapon-Against-Child-Poverty?query=Married+Fathers:+America%E2%80%99s+Greatest+Weapon+Against+Child+Poverty

 Of course the problem is more complex than that kind of generalization I made above states but the effects of what's happening to/with fathers are undeniably catastrophic to our society and culture. There can be no doubt that absent or disengaged fathers is causing enormous damage to our culture that cannot be fixed with welfare or, for that matter, with government 'control'.

That doesn't mean government cannot do something positive. Our leaders ought to set a good example in several ways. They should unanimously proclaim what's happening unacceptable and a looming disaster for our country. They should do so with a frequency and intensity that gets people's attention. Also, they should work much harder to be good role models. They should also ensure that all government agencies and programs impinging on families in any way include in their objectives encouraging in-tact families and responsible parenting.

Our churches need to make this a priority too. Churches permeate our country and we're still mostly a faith-based society. Because of that churches may be in the best position to be the most effective turning this around. It's appropriate for churches to make this a top priority for several reasons. First, religions (in their various ways) emphasize family values. They emphasize the importance of marriage, families, husbands, and fathers. They emphasize the importance of responsible living. There is nothing about this that makes it inappropriate for churches to handle. In fact, church leadership ought to be the most outraged by what's happening to/with fathers and families. That justifiable outrage ought to be motivating them more than anyone to do more. The problem demands their outrage as well as their involvement to do whatever they can to fix it.