Faith is detrimental to families.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That’s the prevailing message we often hear from our pop culture, corporate media, \u200band\u200d social media. According to a headline from The Daily Beast<\/a>, “Religious Kids are Jerks.” The Nation<\/a> asks, “Is Conservative Christianity Bad\u2062 for Marriage?” and claims that research supports this notion. Influencers like Pearl Davis suggest<\/a> that\u2062 Christianity offers little stability to marriages. In other words, the \u200cculture bombards us with examples and \u2064arguments that paint faith and \u200cfamily as a negative or\u200c inconsequential connection.<\/p>\n

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However, when we look at the statistics, we find that cruel, repressed, and unhappy religious unions \u200care the exception rather than the\u200c rule.\u2062 The data presented in my new book,\u2064 Get Married<\/a><\/em>, clearly shows that couples who attend church together generally have the happiest marriages and the lowest risks\u200b of divorce.\u2064 Yes, there are exceptions \u2064like\u200b the Duggars, but they are not representative of the majority.<\/p>\n
In my book, I identify four groups who are “Masters of Marriage,” and one of\u2064 them is “The Faithful.” The Faithful are religious believers who regularly attend religious services<\/a> several times\u200b a\u200d month or more. Their strong ties to their local religious communities and their faith bring greater spiritual significance to their marriages and family lives. According to\u200b Get Married<\/em>‘s analysis of the General Social Survey, those\u200b who regularly attend church<\/a> are more likely to be married (56 percent) compared to occasional attendees (44 percent) and those who rarely \u2063or never attend (39 percent).<\/p>\n
Marriages among regular churchgoers are also more stable. The data tells us that Americans who regularly\u2062 attend church are between 30 and 50 percent \u200bless likely to divorce. Additionally, they are about 15 percentage points more likely to\u200b report being happily married \u200ccompared to secular\u200c couples.<\/p>\n
So why are religious marriages generally \u200dstronger? In Get Married<\/em>, I focus on\u200c three key factors: “norms,” “networks,” and “nomos.”<\/p>\n
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Firstly, religious congregations promote strong marital norms such\u2063 as\u200c fidelity and forgiveness. Hearing these messages and witnessing them being lived\u200b out by fellow churchgoers helps couples navigate the challenges of marriage\u2064 and family life more successfully, protecting them from destructive behaviors like substance abuse.<\/p>\n
Secondly, the networks formed within religious communities provide valuable support. In a world\u200c where neighborly interactions are declining, regular church attendees have an advantage. They are \u2062part of a wider network \u200cof people who can offer \u200bpractical help like babysitting and provide intergenerational relationships that offer different perspectives on\u200c life’s challenges.<\/p>\n
Lastly, the “nomos” found in churches and religious communities strengthens unions. The \u200dcollective endeavor affirmed by religion through rituals\u2063 and beliefs grounds individuals in a sacred moral order. This belief in a higher power has a positive effect on couples, helping them weather the storms of life and \u2063increasing \u2063overall life satisfaction.<\/p>\n
Specifically,\u200b in Get Married<\/em><\/a>, I found that 55 percent of husbands who regularly attend \u2064church services with their wives\u2062 report being “very satisfied” with life, while the number is 49 percent for wives. \u2063In contrast, only 27 percent of wives and 28 percent of husbands who do not attend religious services report<\/a> being \u2063”very satisfied” with life.<\/p>\n
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Furthermore, the \u200c American Family Survey<\/a> indicates that parents\u2062 who regularly attend religious services are more likely to engage in fun activities with their children, have regular family dinners, \u2064and do chores together as a family, even after considering factors like race, parental age, sex, education, and income.<\/p>\n
The prevailing elite messaging about religion and marriage can undermine the norms, networks, and nomos that \u200dcontribute \u2064to\u2063 successful marriages. We know that stable married\u200d families lead to better financial security, happiness,\u200d health, and mental well-being. Most of the time, Americans who regularly worship at their local church are more likely to get married, stay married, and experience marital happiness.<\/p>\n
As we conclude National Marriage Week<\/a> and approach Valentine’s Day, let’s \u2064recognize that strong and stable families, including those supported by a \u2063faith community, are statistically proven to not only bring happiness \u200dbut also advance the common good. It’s high time for\u2062 popular culture and corporate \u200bmedia to provide a more accurate portrayal of the positive impact of faith and family\u200b connections.<\/p>\n
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How does\u2063 Brad Wilcox challenge the negative perception of faith in popular culture and media?<\/h2>\n
Riously,” says Brad Wilcox \u200bin his article\u200d titled “The Power of Faith in Strengthening Families.” Wilcox aims to challenge the prevailing message in pop culture, corporate media,\u2062 and social media that faith\u2063 is detrimental to families. He presents compelling evidence from\u2062 his \u200bbook, “Get Married,”\u2064 which showcases how faith and religious attendance \u200dcan have a positive impact on marriages and families.<\/p>\n
Wilcox begins by addressing the negative perception of faith in popular culture. He highlights headlines from articles that suggest that religious kids are \u200bjerks, and conservative Christianity is \u200cbad for marriage. Influencers like Pearl Davis also argue that Christianity offers little stability to\u200c marriages. These examples, according to Wilcox, contribute to the notion that faith and family \u2063are negatively connected.<\/p>\n
However, Wilcox argues that \u2064statistics tell a different story. He presents\u200d data from his\u2064 book, “Get Married,” which shows that \u200ccouples who attend church together generally have the happiest marriages and the lowest risks\u2063 of divorce. While there are exceptions like the Duggars, who have\u200b faced controversy, they are not \u2062representative of the majority. \u2062Wilcox identifies four groups he calls “Masters of Marriage,”\u200c and one of them\u2063 is “The Faithful” \u2013 religious believers\u200c who regularly attend religious\u2063 services several times a \u200dmonth or more. He explains that their\u200b strong ties to their local religious communities and their faith bring\u2064 greater spiritual significance to\u200c their marriages and family lives.<\/p>\n
According to Wilcox’s analysis of the General Social Survey, those who regularly attend church are more \u200blikely to\u200b be married compared to occasional attendees and those \u200cwho rarely or never attend. Regular churchgoers also have more stable marriages, being \u200d30-50% less likely to \u200cdivorce than those who don’t attend. Additionally, they report being happier in their marriages compared\u2063 to \u2063secular couples.<\/p>\n
Wilcox \u200cdelves into \u2063three key factors \u2063\u2013 “norms,” “networks,”\u2064 and “nomos” \u2013\u2063 to explain why religious marriages are generally stronger. Firstly, \u200dreligious congregations promote strong\u200d marital norms such as fidelity and forgiveness. The messages couples \u2064hear and\u200b witness being lived out by fellow churchgoers help them navigate the challenges \u200cof \u200cmarriage more successfully. Secondly, the networks\u2064 formed within religious communities provide valuable support. Regular church attendees have access to a wider network of people who can offer practical help like babysitting and provide intergenerational relationships offering different perspectives \u2063on life’s challenges. <\/p>\n
Lastly, Wilcox emphasizes the \u2062importance \u2062of\u200b “nomos” found\u200c in \u2063churches and religious communities. This collective endeavor affirmed by religion through rituals \u2062and beliefs \u2064grounds individuals\u200c in a sacred moral order. This belief \u2063in \u2062a higher power positively affects couples,\u200d aiding them in\u200b weathering the storms of \u200blife and increasing overall life satisfaction.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, \u200dBrad Wilcox challenges the prevailing negative portrayal of faith in relation to families by presenting statistics and evidence from his book,\u2062 “Get Married.” He shows that couples who attend church together\u2064 generally have happier and\u200b more\u200b stable marriages. He highlights\u200b the\u200d role of strong marital norms, support networks, and the belief in a higher power in \u2064strengthening religious marriages. Wilcox’s article provides a counterargument to the notion that faith is detrimental to families, urging readers to reconsider the positive impact of faith on marriages and\u2063 families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Is detrimental to family unity. Negative portrayals of faith in popular culture, media, and social platforms perpetuate this notion. Headlines like “Religious Kids are Jerks” and “Is Conservative Christianity Bad for Marriage?” fuel the belief. Influencers such as Pearl Davis further propagate the idea that Christianity has adverse effects on families<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2878,"featured_media":2175794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Woman-and-girl-in-stripes.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2175793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Woman-and-girl-in-stripes.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2878"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2175793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2175794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2175793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2175793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2175793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}