in defense of christian marriage

Written by Dan King

Christ-follower. husband. father. author of the unlikely missionary: from pew-warmer to poverty-fighter. co-author of activist faith: from him and for him. director of family ministry at st. edward's episcopal church. president of fistbump media, llc.

December 31, 2008

churchfamilyChalk one up for Christian values!

One of my biggest pet-peeves is the humanist/atheist perspective that says that ‘religion’ is the cause of some of the biggest problems that our world faces today. I believe that this is a gross misrepresentation of the Church, and is based on the actions of a small percentage of religious extremists that stray quite a bit from the truth that their faith teaches (regardless of the religion).

So, in defense of Christian worldview I wanted to share the results of a recent study that shows that (1) an ‘intact’ marriage and (2) religious participation results in fewer developmental problemsin school-aged children. Yup, you’ve read that right! A child that grows up in an actively Christian home where the parents are not divorced is a child that is better off.  Hooray for Christian marriage! Let me even quote directly from the report on the study…

An intact two-parent family and regular church attendance are each associated with fewer problem behaviors, more positive social development, and fewer parental concerns about the child’s learning and achievement. Taken together, the two home-environment factors have an additive relationship with child well-being. That is, children who live in an intact family and attend religious services regularly generally come out best on child development measures, while children who do neither come out worst.
                                      — Nicholas Zill, Ph.D. and Philip Fletcher, Ph.D.

The study even notes that the differences hold up after controlling for family income and poverty, low parent education levels, and race and ethnicity. In other words other environmental factors didn’t matter. While the study does not differentiate between the types of religious participation (Christian church, Jewish synagogue, or Muslim mosque), it does clearly illustrate how important religious values are to the social and moral upbringing of children.

Amen to that!

 

Related posts: fireproof your marriage and the love dare

23 Comments

  1. J Albano

    It's kind of disenchanting that we, as a society, would need a study to prove that a positive moral environment coupled with regular reinforcement of the value of living such a life will result in more positive social development of the children. We live in a strange days right now, and I think returning to core family values and reaffirming our belief in the Lord will do a lot more to save us as a society than bailouts, stimulus checks and government programs.

    Reply
  2. BibleDude

    AMEN!!! Preach it brother!!!
    Thanks for stopping by John! You rock!

    Reply
  3. J Albano

    It's kind of disenchanting that we, as a society, would need a study to prove that a positive moral environment coupled with regular reinforcement of the value of living such a life will result in more positive social development of the children. We live in a strange days right now, and I think returning to core family values and reaffirming our belief in the Lord will do a lot more to save us as a society than bailouts, stimulus checks and government programs.

    Reply
  4. J Albano

    It's kind of disenchanting that we, as a society, would need a study to prove that a positive moral environment coupled with regular reinforcement of the value of living such a life will result in more positive social development of the children. We live in a strange days right now, and I think returning to core family values and reaffirming our belief in the Lord will do a lot more to save us as a society than bailouts, stimulus checks and government programs.

    Reply
  5. BibleDude

    AMEN!!! Preach it brother!!!
    Thanks for stopping by John! You rock!

    Reply
  6. BibleDude

    AMEN!!! Preach it brother!!! Thanks for stopping by John! You rock!

    Reply
  7. M Walker

    Great news! And I like that it says a “two parent family” showing that as long as it is two loving parents and a Christian environment the children are better off, regardless if it is homosexual or heterosexual. Love and faith in God is all it takes.

    Reply
  8. M Walker

    Great news! And I like that it says a “two parent family” showing that as long as it is two loving parents and a Christian environment the children are better off, regardless if it is homosexual or heterosexual. Love and faith in God is all it takes.

    Reply
  9. M Walker

    Great news! And I like that it says a “two parent family” showing that as long as it is two loving parents and a Christian environment the children are better off, regardless if it is homosexual or heterosexual. Love and faith in God is all it takes.

    Reply
  10. Rich Bordner

    I've written my own defense of traditional marriage. It is a series, and the last post (with links to the others) is
    here

    Reply
  11. Rich Bordner

    I've written my own defense of traditional marriage. It is a series, and the last post (with links to the others) is
    here

    Reply
  12. Rich Bordner

    oops…sorry for the duplicate comment…not trying to spam, I swear.

    Reply
  13. Rich Bordner

    I've written my own defense of traditional marriage. It is a series, and the last post (with links to the others) is here

    Reply
  14. Rich Bordner

    I've written my own defense of traditional marriage. It is a series, and the last post (with links to the others) is
    here

    Reply
  15. Rich Bordner

    oops…sorry for the duplicate comment…not trying to spam, I swear.

    Reply
  16. Rich Bordner

    oops…sorry for the duplicate comment…not trying to spam, I swear.

    Reply
  17. BibleDude

    LOL! No problem Rich! But if you left one more, I would have seriously thought about marking them as spam…

    Seriously, thank for dropping by and sharing your link to stuff on traditional marriage!

    Reply
  18. Rich Bordner

    I've written my own defense of traditional marriage. It is a series, and the last post (with links to the others) is
    here

    Reply
  19. Rich Bordner

    I've written my own defense of traditional marriage. It is a series, and the last post (with links to the others) is
    here

    Reply
  20. Rich Bordner

    oops…sorry for the duplicate comment…not trying to spam, I swear.

    Reply
  21. BibleDude

    LOL! No problem Rich! But if you left one more, I would have seriously thought about marking them as spam…

    Seriously, thank for dropping by and sharing your link to stuff on traditional marriage!

    Reply
  22. BibleDude

    LOL! No problem Rich! But if you left one more, I would have seriously thought about marking them as spam… Seriously, thank for dropping by and sharing your link to stuff on traditional marriage!

    Reply
  23. BibleDude

    LOL! No problem Rich! But if you left one more, I would have seriously thought about marking them as spam…

    Seriously, thank for dropping by and sharing your link to stuff on traditional marriage!

    Reply

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in defense of christian marriage

by Dan King time to read: 2 min
27