Analysis: Does A Dad Make A Difference?

Improved Essays
Does a Dad Make a Difference?
The disregard in America today for the important role of men in the lives of their children and families is destructive to our culture. American culture is trying to redefine the family in order to appease the desires of the adults rather than consider the impact their choices have on the children. In Genesis 2:24 the Bible states, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they become one flesh” (The Holy Bible New International Version, 1978, p. 2). America’s core issue is with submitting to God’s authority in regards to marriage and morality.
The author’s personal connection to this topic lies in their involvement in facilitating Healthy Marriage Workshops for the
…show more content…
As a result, many women are choosing to leave or never connect to the fathers of their children. Single mothers raising families on their own or with men that have to choose intentionally to parent other men’s children, are now becoming the norm.
How did the American culture get to this point? When did they start thinking that the roles of men in the lives of their children were no longer necessary for the health and well-being of the children? Dr. James Dobson addresses the foundational issue of postmodernism in the book Bringing Up Boys. The promotion of moral relativism where “nothing is right or wrong, nothing is good or evil, nothing is positive or negative. Everything is relative” (Dobson, 2001, pp. 199-200). America is so busy condoning the bad behavior of adults they have completely neglected the
…show more content…
The culture of America would like to minimize the importance of the traditional family. In an effort to make everyone feel good about their choices, decisions, and politically correct agendas, it is no longer permissible to speak truth about selfishness. Instead, being selfish is promoted and hailed as the most important thing in the lives of Americans. However, traditional families are actually vital to our culture and most importantly to our children.
In Philippians 2:3-4 God’s word is clear on the issue of selfishness. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others (The Holy Bible New International Version, 1978, p. 1088).” This Biblical principle has been lost in the flood of media mantras that have lulled Americas to sleep with a constant diet of being true to

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Single Father Stereotypes

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Single Father Stereotypes: Do They Exist? Usually, when entering the toy section of a popular department store, the first thing that is noticeable, is of course the brightly colored dolls and toy cars, although, observing beyond the vivid hues, it is evident to see many children, tightly squeezing onto their mother’s arm begging to buy the toys that catches their interest. It is easy to suggest a. the mothers could be married, or b. these mothers could be single parents. This belief of maternal single parenthood is popular in the U.S., as well as other countries, as single mothers have developed into a social norm over the course of a century.…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Women’s role in the domestic sphere, up until very recently, has been burned into the minds of the American psyche as being something that is natural and to be expected. Women’s roles in society have constantly been shown in a negative light, particularly using religion to bring women down to a level where the patriarchal society can look down upon them and control them. Women have been shown to be feeble, weak, and less and moral than men. Women were presented as needing to be reeled in, tamed, and brought up to the standards of society. The three readings I have chosen to discuss all discuss women’s roles in American society and the way society perceives them, but through three completely perspectives.…

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gender Roles through Mid- 20th Century Rewind to late 19th century/ early 20th century America. A woman’s identity was largely defined by religion and culture. At that time period, men were perceived as having the power. They were expected to be socially, politically, and financially dominant. Women were subservient.…

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Symbolic Interactionism In The Family

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 5 Works Cited

    Conflict can take the form of competing goals as well as different role expectations. A working mother, for instance, wishes to split the housework in half, but her husband maintains that household chores are her responsibility and not a man’s. A family’s difference in age, sex and personalities will also contribute to the natural occurrence of…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 5 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How can single mother’s psychological and physiological state lead her to neglect her child? In 1995, an article called “Why Fathers Count” stated that “nearly 23 million American children do not live with their biological fathers. And 40 percent of the kids of divorced parents haven 't seen their fathers” (Csatari). We usually see in custody battles that the mother gets the children because she is the best equipped to take care and nurture them.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The term ‘family’ has been one that is constantly changing with the times and the seasons of society. Many tend to fantasize about the “ideal” nuclear family in the 1950’s: a father who went to work in an office in a suit and tie, a mother who cleaned the house in heels and cooked every meal, two and a half children that were well behaved, and a house with a white picket fence. However, this image is not a true depiction of the 1950’s. Rather than seeing the restraints and precautions had on the family, individuals are swayed by this myth of a “problem free” decade. The rise of individualism, shift in gender roles and changes in the social environment has made the myth of perfection established in the 1950’s ever more impossible to attain today.…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hidden Worldview Analysis

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Individualism is what many consider the backbone of American culture or American dream. I find that is actually the reason for our slow fall and demise. It has affected my life and the people around me. It does not help us as christians to become more life Jesus because as soon as we are self centered becoming like Jesus is significantly harder. Individualism is summed up in a couple different ways, all focusing around self.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hannah Yenofsky History 17A TA: Coles 10/30/2014 The Search For An Idealistic Society in America Continues In 2013, a woman only made 77 cents for every dollar that a man made in the United States. How is it that in 2013, a country built off of equality is still struggling with gender equality?…

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The article, “Double Duty for Dads”, discusses the difficulties both Vietnamese’ women and men face because they live in a poor country which they can’t afford a better life for their families. Vietnamese’ women leave their hometown and work in another country as maids. Being a house cleaner is a very demanding job, especially for those unskilled people. Based on the article, Vietnamese’ women go overseas, they sacrifice themselves to work in a job to get better wages. Vietnamese’ women face a lot of challenges in their life, especially when they are working abroad.…

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I also agree with the author’s point of view about how traditional family is mythological. The reason I agree with the her is that our society changes according to time. Also today society is all about privacy, unlike in the 1900s most people lived in a joint family and went everywhere with their family. Today we basically do what we want with or without our family. One way we can fix marriage problems is to have programs that teaches people on what and what not to say and do in a certain situation when you have a problem.…

    • 163 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “I Need a Husband” In the mid 20th century, the United States culture was centered around the idea that a happy family consisted of a man and a woman who loved each other, working together to live and raise their children. However, the first chapter of The Hearts of Men, argues that this cliché was completely false, and that the men and women of the time recognized the roles that they played as unfair and embarrassing. Ehrenreich states that the holy matrimony between a man and a woman could be seen as strictly an economic beneficiary to the woman, and an economic responsibility to men.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the essay, The Madness of the American Family by Midge Decter, many interesting points were brought up concerning how Americans, who are so fortunate, have gotten themselves into such a predicament as to debate what ‘family’ means. Decter's main claim is that by marrying and raising a family in the traditional way, we will fulfill the destinies intended for us, which will give our lives full meaning. She explains that we can't fool Mother Nature and if we try to, we will end up with all sorts of problems. If we live solely for ourselves and not be part of a traditional family unit, then again problems are created.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Much too often, the role of a father in the life of his child is downplayed and underemphasized by society. In times past, mothers have been regarded by most of society as the primary parent in nearly every facet, whether it pertains to the child’s academic performance to medical care to emotional wellbeing. The widely held sentiment has been that the mother’s role is more important than that of the father’s when it pertains to child rearing. Although this belief may be true for a fraction of families, the fact still remains that it takes both a man and a woman to create a child. This truth alone begs the question: What effect does the father have on child development?…

    • 1074 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are a multitude of reasons that the American family is different from the “traditional family” of yesterday. The ways that these changes are influencing people are extremely positive but there will always be a negative person to point out that a few of them have the capacity to be harmful and unwanted. These changes in family are seen most noticeably in the West but are also making their way to the East as well, though at much slower rates. While reading the article “Global Revolution in Family and Personal Life”, it is noted that the author sees the American family as stronger than ever. Giddens shows that throughout history the family has continued to change and is better now than it ever was.…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Analyzing Kinship in a Cross Cultural Context In the Western world, there are common ideologies on what is considered a “normal” family. The idea of the Nuclear family with one mom and one dad raising their own kids is still considered to be the ideal family. However, in many societies, such as the Nandi people in Kenya and the Andean people in Ayacucho Peru, kinship is more important than biology. In Toronto, social organizations still only cater to the Western ideologies of who is best to raise children.…

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays

Related Topics