By Pamela Godoy
We have been taught that family is the first and vital cell of society. That is true, but sometimes this might sound romantic. So, what are some strong arguments to promote marriage and protect families? Families are very important for society in terms of education, economy, and politics, among other aspects. Let’s take a deeper look into the four strategic functions that families have.
Families are an individual’s first community. Here is where each person is valued unconditionally. Differently from companies or educational institutions, individuals are not expected to achieve an objective at the end of the month nor are they supposed to have a certain grade to belong. Individuals are not meant to have certain capabilities or aptitudes to be loved. They are simply valued for their uniqueness. In addition, as long as there are mentally healthier individuals, there will be healthier families and that will result in healthier societies.
The best school of love, affection, upbringing, and education in values are families. Parents are the first who model how to love their spouses and their children. In addition, they’re the ones who are responsible for their children’s upbringing. It is important to emphasize that the State has a secondary role that needs to support the family. It shouldn’t decide how children should be raised, and it should allow parents to decide regarding their children’s education.
The third reason to promote the creation of families is that these are domestic churches. That means that this is where children learn their first prayers (e.g. praying before sleeping, before every meal, etc.). This was more noticeable during the pandemic, especially when there were lockdowns because the temples were closed.
Finally, families provide the new generations of citizens that will be of great benefit for the whole society in general. These kids will someday become grownups who will work, pay taxes, and support the older generations. This is why it is important to promote that young couples get married and have children. There’s a replacement-level fertility rate that establishes that in order to have healthy societies (i.e. a generation will exactly replace itself), women need to have 2.1 children.
All in all, marriage should be promoted among young people and the formation of families should be encouraged. This will result in healthier and well-educated children who will someday become citizens that will make a positive impact on our societies.
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