is marriage and the family in jeopardy?

I teach three year 9 R.E.P. (Religion, Ethics and Philosophy) classes and we have been studying marriage this half term. As I was marking one of my set's assessments it struck me how many of them have a very disillusioned and cynical view of marriage. I know that a lot of students today come from broken homes and therefore do not have good role models or examples of marriage at home, and some of the views just reflected their hormones and immaturity. Nevertheless I find it alarming how pessimistic, disillusioned and angry a lot of these young people are. The issue of the family is another battleground in which the election will be fought next year between Labour and the Conservatives.

The Conservatives want to introduce some sort of tax rebate for newly married couples, whilst Labour condemn this policy as prejudice against co-habiting families or single parent families. However what is apparent is the centrality of the family to the stability and progress of our society in this country. As sex before marriage has ever increasingly become the norm school age girls are now given vaccinations against cervical cancer and there is even a new initiative by the Government to give free contraceptive pills to 16 year old girls in the areas of the country with the highest teenage pregnancy rates.

All this suggests to me that we have a serious problem on our hands here in the UK regarding the place of the family and the morality of marriage and the family. In practically every generation there are moral scares and some people would criticise conservative (with a small c) newspapers etc as being judgemental or merely stirring up a media frenzy. Notwithstanding I cannot help as I observe the attitudes and opinions of my students that the place of marriage and the sanctity of the family is in jeopardy. As this nation has become ever more secular in its philosophy and outlook on life, society has suffered because of it. There seems to be (without being scientific about it) a correlation between our declining faith/church in this country and the increasing social ills present and plaguing this country.

Vandalism, crime, teenage pregnancy, divorce, abortion are all symptoms of an ailing society and these are eroding the moral fabric of society like a cancer. May God have mercy upon this country and may the major political parties take seriously (as the Conservatives say they do) the importance and place of the family to our social wellbeing. I urge my readers to choose wisely and carefully who they vote for next year, because I believe it is imperative we have a Government who will uphold the family not undermine it further. We need to treat these young disenfranchised people with godly compassion and show His love through our actions. We need to pray that the sanctity of marriage and the family is preserved so that future generations of young people will have good, positive role models from which to base their worldviews.