Family as “The” Backbone of Society?
I was kind of half-listening to today’s (April 10, 2013) episode Christian television program “The 700 Club,” being hosted by Gordon (Pat Robertson’s son).
I can’t remember the context of the comment he made, it might have followed the segment about adoption, but after bemoaning the number of single parent households and how fathers don’t hang around any longer, Robertson made the comment that “families are the backbone of society.” Are they really? Where does the Bible teach that?
If you would like to posit that families are “A” building block of society, I might not argue with that, but to imply it’s “THE” building block, or the “only” or “the most important” backbone of society? I do take issue with that.
The fact is some people do not HAVE families.
Some people never had kids and their spouse is dead.
There are people such as me who never married and never had kids.
Gordon Robertson is not the first or only conservative evangelical Christian to make this “the family is the building block of society” argument, I’ve seen it repeated time and again for over 25 years by other Christians and even by Non Christian conservatives.
I too am a conservative and am not “anti family,” but you know…
If your theology, doctrine, and world view as a Christian leaves no place, concern, or thought for UNMARRIED people, or for the INFERTILE, or for the WIDOWED, here’s a clue- by- four over your head: you might be making marriage, parenting, and the nuclear family into an IDOL, making something of “the family” that God never intended.
Jesus Christ taught if you put your family above Him and His church (that is, other believers who may not be related to you physically), you are not worthy to follow Him.
Almost 50% of the American population is single these days, so that un-married people are part of the “backbone of society” these days. (Edit. As of 2014, single adults are now over half of the American population, please see (Link): this post)
———————
Related posts:
(Link): The Nuclear Family Was A Mistake – by David Brooks – and Related Links
(Link): America’s Fertility Dilemma by Lois M. Collins
(Link): Statistics Show Single Adults Now Outnumber Married Adults in the United States
(Link): If the Family Is Central, Christ Isn’t
(Link): Facebook’s motherhood challenge makes me want to punch my computer screen by F. Everett
Christian Pundit 
There are three dominant idols in the south: Sex, children, and football.
With about 50% of the U.S. population unmarried these days, it looks to me that unmarried people are also part of “the backbone of society.” But we are never acknowledged, or conservatives behave as though only married people count.
I wish Christian conservatives would stop getting weepy and nostalgic for the nuclear family, looking back fondly at 1955 American culture.
We’re not in the past anymore. To keep getting nostalgic over the nuclear family is to keep on ignoring (and thus not helping) people in the new reality: single people!
We could use the church’s help and support, but they’d rather go on cable news shows and gripe about liberals, the legalization of homosexuality marriage, and the crumbling of traditional values, and so forth.
(P.S.) Food is also pretty popular in much of the south too.
I would also like to add in football goes to even pee-wee football where I’m from. My kid has to be the next superstar at seven to get into the big schools! I would say that we may have missed one too as I’m from the South and that’s redneck humor. Duck Dynasty basically is its own worship now.
On to other things, CP also put how the family may be the idol elevated right now. I don’t know. Now family as the “backbone of society”? I guess the type of family matters more. God adopts us. Yet they are talking about human family. It’s crazy. It all falls into the “family values” that politicians use. It seems everyone wants to use family values and family preservation now. If I hear it one more time, I will probably throw something at my television (just joking). However I am so sickened by all this family talk.
Does anyone get angry like me that they want to promote the human family vs the Lord’s family? I don’t know. I guess it is just me. I like His family more I guess. Full of all kinds of people, married and single!
Tyler – Husbands and wives are supposed to symbolize the church being the bride of Christ. So human family values should be equivalent to the Lord’s family values. However, family families today don’t hold up to that. Instead, they are about greed, exclusivity, ownership, self pleasure, and distrust. Yes, I’m sometimes angry about that too.
@ johnhughmorgan3
Unmarried people are also a part of the “Bride of Christ,” so singleness too reflects God’s relationship with “the church.” Don’t let the married people co-opt the marriage allegory thing to keep marginalizing you.
From Problems (Myths) Affecting Singles’ Ministry
Bishop David Ibeleme:
1. The Church has been viewed as a married institution – “The bride of Christ”. Hence single people are “abnormal”.
-The concept of the church as the bride of Christ is not the same as a human wife.
– The bride of Christ is actually the New Jerusalem which is represented by the church.
– The church is really not the bride of Christ – Rev. 22.