Is the family under threat of extinction?
May 12, 2004
This week the world will be marking the International Day of the Family. <br>
This week the world will be marking the International Day of the Family.
About 10 years ago, the United Nations deemed it fit to declare such a day. After all, it had declared many other days to which the family unit is quite central.
Indeed, the family is the smallest unit of any society and it is these societies that eventually make up the nations, which together, form the United Nations. In a way, therefore, the family is a microcosm of the nation.
A family is like a minute nation.
Problems in the family are likely to impact on the nation at large. Conversely, a stable family set-up may well indicate a healthy nation. That is why nations have to put a lot of emphasis on nurturing the family.
That is why in every society you will have laws governing the starting, the continuation and even the largely undesired event of ending a family relationship, specifically that between a husband and wife. Hence, you have very elaborate family laws in many countries which reflect the local cultures and traditions. The family is currently faced with so many challenges that its very existence is under threat.
The challenges the family is facing are not necessarily new but because of modern trends in technology and communication, their effects on the family promise more devastating effects than ever before in history.
Some people blame the current problems of the family on globalisation. Because of the internet and other mass media like television and radio, it is quite easy for something to happen in one part of the world and for that happening to be watched, or heard of, as it happens.
When Britney Spears gets married and divorces within twelve hours, this fact is known internationally as it happens.
The same level of recognition will apply to Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Michael Jackson and many others.
Partly because of the pressure the limelight puts on these stars, settling in a marriage and family situation becomes very difficult, almost impossible. The result is that many of them will not stay married to the same person for long. Yet they are the heroes and heroines of a big number of our young people.
If this generation’s hero does not stay married for long why should they? In that sense therefore, globalisation seems bad for family life. Divorce on demand becomes a realistic option that is eventually clamoured for locally.
With divorce come other new trends: co-habitation, contractual marriages and other inventions that end up undermining commitment, which is central to the cohesion in family life.
As we celebrate the International Day of the Family, it is important to be mindful of these and other challenges that threaten to tear the family apart.
The family is undergoing other challenges including same-sex unions, which have lately received some level of recognition in some jurisdictions. There does not seem to be any other single devastating threat to the family than this. Yet by their very nature same-sex unions are self-defeating. Procreation is very central to the continuation of the family and indeed society. While there may be unions where children are not born, either deliberately or due to natural inabilities, this is not the norm. With same-sex unions, procreation is completely out of the question. Without procreation therefore, the very foundation of society, the family is under threat of extinction. Hence, the common law definition of marriage as a voluntary union between one man and one woman for life, to the exclusion of all others, continues to provide the best chance for cohesion and continuance of the family and indeed society.
Several aspects of this definition have been departed from in different cultures over time. The voluntary aspect has been challenged where arranged marriages abound. The one woman component has also been found wanting in polygamous settings and divorce has also ensured that not all marriages last for life.
Yet all these assaults on the key facets of the classical ruling in Hyde versus Hyde pale in comparison to the assault caused by same sex unions. As we celebrate or observe the International Day of the Family it is important to be mindful of these and other challenges that threaten to tear the family apart.
Ends
About 10 years ago, the United Nations deemed it fit to declare such a day. After all, it had declared many other days to which the family unit is quite central.
Indeed, the family is the smallest unit of any society and it is these societies that eventually make up the nations, which together, form the United Nations. In a way, therefore, the family is a microcosm of the nation.
A family is like a minute nation.
Problems in the family are likely to impact on the nation at large. Conversely, a stable family set-up may well indicate a healthy nation. That is why nations have to put a lot of emphasis on nurturing the family.
That is why in every society you will have laws governing the starting, the continuation and even the largely undesired event of ending a family relationship, specifically that between a husband and wife. Hence, you have very elaborate family laws in many countries which reflect the local cultures and traditions. The family is currently faced with so many challenges that its very existence is under threat.
The challenges the family is facing are not necessarily new but because of modern trends in technology and communication, their effects on the family promise more devastating effects than ever before in history.
Some people blame the current problems of the family on globalisation. Because of the internet and other mass media like television and radio, it is quite easy for something to happen in one part of the world and for that happening to be watched, or heard of, as it happens.
When Britney Spears gets married and divorces within twelve hours, this fact is known internationally as it happens.
The same level of recognition will apply to Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Michael Jackson and many others.
Partly because of the pressure the limelight puts on these stars, settling in a marriage and family situation becomes very difficult, almost impossible. The result is that many of them will not stay married to the same person for long. Yet they are the heroes and heroines of a big number of our young people.
If this generation’s hero does not stay married for long why should they? In that sense therefore, globalisation seems bad for family life. Divorce on demand becomes a realistic option that is eventually clamoured for locally.
With divorce come other new trends: co-habitation, contractual marriages and other inventions that end up undermining commitment, which is central to the cohesion in family life.
As we celebrate the International Day of the Family, it is important to be mindful of these and other challenges that threaten to tear the family apart.
The family is undergoing other challenges including same-sex unions, which have lately received some level of recognition in some jurisdictions. There does not seem to be any other single devastating threat to the family than this. Yet by their very nature same-sex unions are self-defeating. Procreation is very central to the continuation of the family and indeed society. While there may be unions where children are not born, either deliberately or due to natural inabilities, this is not the norm. With same-sex unions, procreation is completely out of the question. Without procreation therefore, the very foundation of society, the family is under threat of extinction. Hence, the common law definition of marriage as a voluntary union between one man and one woman for life, to the exclusion of all others, continues to provide the best chance for cohesion and continuance of the family and indeed society.
Several aspects of this definition have been departed from in different cultures over time. The voluntary aspect has been challenged where arranged marriages abound. The one woman component has also been found wanting in polygamous settings and divorce has also ensured that not all marriages last for life.
Yet all these assaults on the key facets of the classical ruling in Hyde versus Hyde pale in comparison to the assault caused by same sex unions. As we celebrate or observe the International Day of the Family it is important to be mindful of these and other challenges that threaten to tear the family apart.
Ends