Importance of Fathers

                Families, communities and nations are strengthened when children are raised with the loving and caring influence of fathers.  Children who are raised without the influence of their father are like ships out on the seas without rudders; neither fatherless children nor rudderless ships have proper guidance and are easily lost.

                The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published a Proclamation to the World about families in September 1995.  The following statement is included in the proclamation:  “The family is ordained of God.  Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.  Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity….   By divine design fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families….”

                Our modern society mistakenly believes that fathers are dispensable.  I believe that the attacks on the family come from Satan through evil people.  I believe that evil sources are destroying families by the suggestions that marriage is unimportant.  I also believe that the destruction of families is part of the plan to destroy the liberty of our nation.

                Kelly O’Connell, attorney, author, and talk show host, asked some important questions about the influence of fathers:  Is fatherhood being killed so the State can play God?  If fathers are removed from society, how can anyone understand authority?  Is there a master plan for the subjugation of the human race?  “From a purely secular standpoint, the health of a society can be measured by the vitality of fatherhood, according to relevant statistics.  More importantly, the health of a society can be best measured from its ability to grasp the concept of God, the Father.  For example, a society which merely accepts the God concept without differentiating between the elements of the Trinity is devolving towards paganism.  But who would desire such a purge?

                “Trenchantly, Jim Sheridan – director of the academy-award-winning “In the Name of the Father” – once stated, `If you want to destroy a society, remove the fathers.’  The presence and activity of dads in a culture is so important that they cannot be removed without precipitating collapse, according to David Popenoe in Fathers, Marriage, and Children in American Society.  Statistics clearly illustrate this claim.  America is now increasingly fatherless.  Popular sentiment, along with social engineering, academic pseudo-scholarship, and religious heresy all add to an unprecedented assault upon marriage and fatherhood.  From a biblical viewpoint, this assault on the Father is a challenge upon the very structure of the universe and creation – whereas the Father initiated creation, carried out by His Son and Spirit.  Marriage, as a symbol of the relationship between Christ and His Church, is made superfluous when Christianity no longer sets the mores of a society – as has evolved in America today.”

                O’Connell’s article is long but has some very interesting data about the importance of fathers in the home and the effects of little or no fatherly influence.  He proposed that “if one were specifically to design a culture and a social system for the express purpose of undercutting fatherhood and men’s contribution to family life, our current society would be close to what would result.  Consider the following key elements one would want to incorporate:  1) Make marriage into a very weak institution; 2) Sexualize the society; 3) Have an education system that does not recognize workers’ family responsibilities and that stresses ever-increasing material consumption; 4) Develop a culture that heavily stresses individualism; 5) In social discourse, through the media, and in the design of the built environment, deemphasize the importance of children to the continuation of society; 6) Overlook the importance of fathering when discussing male gender roles; 7) When fathering is discussed, don’t mention that fathers are unique and irreplaceable as protectors, challengers, disciplinarians and guides.”

                This very interesting article concludes with this statement followed by statistics to prove his points:  “If fathers have to be removed before a tyranny is established, America is well on the way.  Note the following statistics to understand what grave danger America now is in regarding the loss of fathers.  To reject fathers is to reject our historic Western approach to life.  What follows can only be the bloodbath of liberty first, followed by humans, later.”  The statistics were at the end of the article.

                The Savior showed us how to pray to God and did so by addressing God as “Father” – “Our Father who art in heaven….”  God, the most powerful Person in the universe, wants His children to call Him “Father.”  A visual that shows the importance of fathers can be found here.  This video illustrates why Fathers are important in the rearing of both sons and daughters and why families often do not succeed when Father is missing.

                More than fifteen years ago, Prophets and Apostles proclaimed the importance of marriage and fathers to the world.  We can discern by looking at our society today that their warning fell on many deaf ears.  Our nation and other nations of the world are slowly slipping into destruction, and one of the reasons for the decay in our society is the destruction of families and single mothers rearing children alone.  We must put fathers back at the head of our families in order to strengthen our families, communities and nations.