“The Core Unit Which Determines the Strength of Any Society is the Family; Therefore, the Government Should Foster and Protect Its Integrity.”
“We continue to stress the urgent need for couples, for parents and children, and for single adults living alone to study and live the principles of truth, with special attention to nurturing love and harmony within their family circles” (Spencer W. Kimball, “Therefore I Was Taught,” Ensign, Jan. 1982, p. 3).
Alexis de Tocqueville wrote,
“There is certainly no country in the world where the tie of marriage is more respected than in America, or where conjugal happiness is more highly or worthily appreciated. In Europe almost all of the disturbances of society arise from the irregularities of domestic life. To despise the natural bonds and legitimate pleasure of home is to contract a taste for excesses, a restlessness of heart, and fluctuating desires. Agitated by the tumultuous passions that frequently disturb his dwelling, the European is galled by the obedience which the legislative powers of the state exact. But when the American retires from the turmoil of public life to the bosom of his family, he finds it the image of order and peace. There his pleasures are simple and natural, his joys are innocent and calm; and as he finds that an orderly life is the surest path to happiness, he accustoms himself to easily moderate his opinions as well as his tastes. While the European endeavors to forget his domestic troubles be agitating society, the American derives from his own home that love of order which he afterwards carries with him into public affairs.”
When reading this quote by Tocqueville, one cannot help but wonder if the America of today values marriage and family like America at the time of her birth. Do we still have order and peace in our homes? Are we different than the Europe of yesteryear that he describes?
The American Founders felt that the legal, moral and social relationships between husband and wife were clearly established by Biblical law under what has been described as “differential” equality: they each have their specific rights appropriate to their role in life and otherwise share all rights in common. The role of the man is to “Protect and Provide” while the woman’s is to strengthen the family solidarity in the home and provide a wholesome environment for her husband and children. In theory, God’s law made man first in governing his family, but as between himself and his wife he was merely first among equals. The Apostle Paul stated as much in 1 Corinthians 11:11, “Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.”
John Locke also pointed out that parents have equal responsibility in rearing children. He referred to this as ‘paternal authority’. And he gives several Biblical references to this truth: Exodus 20:12, Leviticus 19:3, Leviticus 20:9, and Ephesians 6:1. He stated that this equality was the style of the Old Testament. The early New England families contributed to the success of our nation. There are records of men giving women part of the household to manage and that these husbands and wives shared the mutual bond of bringing about the Kingdom of God on Earth. Today there are many who have come to believe that a woman is to submit to her husband, yet they do not acknowledge that this is true only when he is submitting to God in righteousness. There are those who plan to never marry at all, and the Founders had a lot to say about that idea as well.
Benjamin Franklin emphasized the interdependence of men and women for their mutual happiness. He stated, “Marriage is the proper remedy. It is the most natural state of man, and therefore the state in which you are most likely to find solid happiness.” He goes on to say,
“It is the man and woman united that make the complete human being. Separate, she wants his force of body and strength of reason; he, her softness, sensibility, and acute discernment. Together, they are more likely to succeed in the world. A single man has not nearly the value he would have in that state of union. He is an incomplete animal. He resembles the odd half of a pair of scissors. If you get a prudent, healthy wife, your industry in your profession, with her good economy, will be fortune sufficient.”
The next logical question is, “Where do children fit into this equation?” Locke stated that the authority of the parents over children is based on natural law, it “arises from that duty which is incumbent on them, to take care of their offspring during the imperfect state of childhood. To inform the mind, and to govern the actions of their yet ignorant nonage, till reason shall take its place and ease them of that trouble, is what the children want, and the parents are bound to provide.” Locke also believed that once someone has reached mature adulthood, they should be able to apply the revealed laws of God to their daily life. He goes on to affirm that the State must not interfere with legitimate family relations. And that any action taken by government to debilitate or dislocate the normal trilateral structure of the family is not only a threat to the family involved, but is a menace to the very foundations of society itself.
Additionally, Locke explained that children are to honor their father and mother, and that it makes sense that they do, because then they are not turning against the very source of their lives. When their parents are old, they should care for them if needed as much as they possibly can, because they owe their life to them, literally. Parents guide and lead their children until they have learned for themselves how to apply the revealed laws of God in their daily life. If parents have taught their children correctly, this should happen by the time they reach adulthood.
It is not government’s proper role to define the family, but it is to protect it. Whenever government legislates the destruction of the family, it brings about the unraveling of our society.
The only way for government to protect the family, …, wait for it, …, is to stay out of it. Speaking for the Gods, Jesus Christ revealed to Joseph Smith the following:
D&C 121:39 — We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
The founders generally understood this and formed the U.S. Constitution to significantly limit the powers of government. Hence, to keep the government from expanding its powers into forbidden areas, you simply do not give them any power to touch those areas. A quick reading of Article 1, Section 8 shows that the powers granted to the Federal government are few and defined. This is how you keep the government out of the family, and out of anything else they’re not supposed to regulate.
However, you don’t need a high IQ to realize that the Federal government (and the states) are doing it anyway. So much for the rule of law. Gack!
Paul