Essay/Term paper: Family unity and moral values

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Humanities Essays

Family Unity and Moral Values


The increase in the number of divorces and the decrease in the number of
marriages does not reflect a breakdown of the family unit in the United States
and the decay of moral values. "I don't think divorce is as big of problem as
politicians make it out to be. Yes, many couples get divorced, but their
children can still have stability and grow up to be good people." (Price) The
breakdown of the family unit in the United States and the decay of moral values
are due to the change of society and environment. These days, when many
families are at home together, they often remain apart. There are no bondage
and communication in families. Television and technology has corrupted the
minds of children in America. Less religious influence, persistent underclass
unemployment and alternative lifestyles have contributed in the downfall of
families and moral values. The nation and state have done little or nothing to
provide help rebuild families and values.
Family value has reference to what we believe about the family. It's
concerned with quality of living and how you define quality of living. It
basically gets down to what you think is the most important, in other words what
you value.
"Family values is nice when you've got Ward and June and Wally and
Beaver. Unfortunately, the world has changed quite a bit from the 1950s to 1996.
Things have just changed so rapidly and so quick…" (Anderson) The honesty,
setting examples with your morals and actions, and bringing up the people to be
responsible. Responsible for themselves, responsible for ecology, responsible
for humanity qualities have been neglect in the upbringing of children today.
Many people believe that true family values are the stepping stones for
families to achieve growth of love. They follow seven principles.

1.Make a commitment to your family and hometown.
2.Live for the greater whole.
3.Learn true love in the school of the family.
4.Dedicate your own family to the global family of humankind.
5.Strive daily to put the spiritual above the physical.
6.Align with heaven to share blessings on earth.
7.Be sexually pure to create the true culture. (Bales)

But every family has its own values and few of them are exactly alike. The
variations are endless, and there is no single ideal standard that all families
can or should exist. Because society has changed, moral has changed and people
can not follow the morals of the past.
Both parents assisting in the household income is new in today's society
compared to the past. Where the only the man of the house worked and the women
would stay home and take care of the children. Today's society require a
family to have two income to survive, one income does not provide a stable life
style anymore. The issue of homosexuality and diversity have surfaced, and
moral values have changed.
Families are lost in the dream world of their TV sets and video games.
Children are learning values and issues from TV and not from their own parents.
The children do not learn how to communicate with their parents, and will not
learn to communicate with their mate later in life. Their marriage will end up
in divorce and their children will follow the same cycle as they did.
The evolving "information superhighway" will make it even easier for
individuals to lose themselves in non-real worlds at the expense of their very
real families. People should value their families higher than their fantasies.

"If parents could be adult about it by cooperating in their child
raising, speaking well of each other, and supporting each others' decisions
whether
both parents are in the home or not, then less stress would be put on
the innocent parties, who are often the parents as well as the children. Will
benefit the children as well as themselves… But that's not the kind of world we
live in, and we point fingers and waste time, money and energy trying to fix
blame." (Price)
Base on the book "The Case Against Divorce" by Diane Medved an important
issue was raised. The issue of religion in today's society. People are less
religious and the amount of time spent in church has declined in past years.
This tells us the people are not learning knowledge and wisdom from the church
but from somewhere else. That people do not believe that the true solutions to
get the family in the right track are spiritual and moral.

"Would you rather be surrounded by a million people who were very religious, or
would you rather be surrounded by a million people who were not very religious?
I think we would rather be surrounded by those who are religious, because we
would feel more safe…" (Carter)

"I think religion has wonderful things to offer. It makes you stop and think
about whether what we are doing is right or wrong, as opposed to secular law,
which makes you wonder whether what you are doing is going to get you arrested
or not." (Carter)

"To Jews, the point of your existence on Earth is to help improve the world.
This creation is unfinished, a team effort between humans and God. We have the
basic raw matter, and we are given free will, and our job is to make this place
beautiful." (Carter)

Politicians love to rhapsodize about the virtues of traditional families,
religious principles and personal integrity. Yet the truth is these high-minded,
abstract ideals are conspicuously missing in may of their personal lives. It is
common wisdom now among both parties that forcing mothers off welfare into the
job market will counter the breakdown of the inner-city family by instilling the
work ethic and responsibility. But what will this do for family values if there
is no welfare for food and no available work for the uneducated and the
untrained?

"Our nation, states and communities should spend more of their time making it
easier and more attractive for people to connect on a personal, face-to-face
level and for families to re-learn the pleasures of sharing productive
activities rather than helping lock us each into a technological cocoon."
(Medved)

The increase in the number of divorces and the decrease in the number of
marriages does not reflect a breakdown of the family unit in the United States
and the decay of moral values. "I don't think divorce is as big of problem as
politicians make it out to be. Yes, many couples get divorced, but their
children can still have stability and grow up to be good people." (Price) The
breakdown of the family unit in the United States and the decay of moral values
are due to the change of society and environment. These days, when many
families are at home together, they often remain apart. There are no bondage
and communication in families. Television and technology has corrupted the
minds of children in America. Less religious influence, persistent underclass
unemployment and alternative lifestyles have contributed in the downfall of
families and moral values. The nation and state have done little or nothing to
provide help rebuild families and values. The only solution is to connect,
communicate and establish bondage in the family. Try to spend more time and
energy with families will greatly improve family unity and moral values.