Posted on 06/30/2008 6:38:29 AM PDT by Between the Lines
In a research brief this month, Bradford Wilcox, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia, analyzed three national studies in order to discover if "there is any evidence that religion is playing a role in encouraging a strong family orientation among contemporary American men?" His research led him to conclude that men who regularly attend Christian services are engaged in happier and stronger marriages and are more involved in the lives of their children than men who do not.
"70 percent of husbands who attend church regularly report they are 'very happy' in their marriages, compared to 59 percent of husbands who rarely or never attend church," explained Wilcox, who also said that the studies indicated that wives experienced more marital happiness when their husbands attended regular religious services.
This is likely one significant reason why the studies showed that married couples who attended regular Christian services were approximately 35 percent less likely to divorce then those couples who did not.
Wilcox's research also looked at the effect religion has on the relationships between fathers and their children.
Fathers who attended regular Christian services spent an average of two more hours a week engaged in youth-activities with their children than fathers who did not attend regular services. Christian fathers also spent more one-on-one time with their children and were 65 percent more likely to hug and praise their children.
The studies also found that children born inside of wedlock had much more "involved, affectionate, and consistent relationships" with their fathers. This is an important statistic given Wilcox's findings that church attending men are more likely to have children inside of wedlock then non-church going men.
Wilcox concluded his research brief by strongly advocating the positive effects that religion has on husbands and fathers: "This brief provides an array of evidence indicating that religion is an answer to the male problematic - that is, the tendency of fathers to become detached, emotionally or physically, from their children and the mothers of their children. I find that fathers who are religious, and who have partners who are religious, are - on average - more likely to be happily married, to be engaged and affectionate parents, and to get and stay married to the mothers of their children."
To see the full research brief:
http://center.americanvalues.org/?p=75
And now I’ll hold my breath while I wait for the various MSM Evening News broadcasts to lead with this story...
...my wife has always said blue looks good on me...
My, what a surprise.
Studies show the sun to be hot.
Headline = DUH
Perfectly put.
Jesus Christ can show you the love that you didn’t know you were capable of. This is in respect to a wife and family. Now liberals, socialists, commies and basic dems, well, He’s got a lot of work to do on me with all that.
That’s exactly my response:
DUH!
The feminists HATE the Christian concept of families, though, because the man is assumed to be in the leadership role, and he IS - the variable is just whether he does a good job at it or not.
There will also be a study released later this week which will indicate water is wet.
So, is this why, for the most part, gay men shun Christianity?
Note that it’s not just being Christian. One has to be a practicing Christian and attend Church. Not just call themselves Christian. I don’t imagine some of the non true Christian sects share in this benefit.
Pretty obvious I guess.
They hate anything that says that they aren’t God, and in order to do that everything must be destroyed in order to build it in their own image.
Romans 1:18 - 32 -
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
Notice the progression: They reject God, and as a result God “gave them over”. Moral chaos, loss of identity and moral insanity ensues.
It doesn’t support “diversity” in order to advertise this fact.
You mean like Episcopalians?
They don’t have any heterosexual men in their church anyway.
Priests of the Domestic Church: A Father's Day Homily
The Blueprint for Heroic Family Life [Fathers' Day] [Ecumenical]
Children Who Have An Active Father Figure Have Fewer Psychological And Behavioral Problems
Where Have All the Christian Men Gone? My Conversation with John Eldredge
The Transforming Power of Prayer [Part 1] (Catholic Man)
The Transforming Power of Prayer, Part 2 (Catholic Man)
The 10 Paradoxes of Fatherhood, There is a certain immediacy about motherhood that cannot
The Story of Champions [Father's Day]
ALL; Qx compiled STATS SUMMARY FROM:
Source full article link: http://center.americanvalues.org/?p=75
PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN LIVING IN FATHER=ABSENT HOMES ROSE FROM:
| 1960 | 2000 |
| 11 PERCENT | 27 PERCENT |
Over the course of their lives, more than half of all children will live apart from their fathers—either because of divorce or nonmarital childbearing. In one study
| PERCENT OF CHILDREN IN FATHERLESS FAMILIES who saw their fathers ONCE a month or LESS | 60 PERCENT |
| CHILD BORN TO COHABITING COUPLE> | CHILD BORN TO A MARRIED COUPLE> |
| 50 PERCENT RISK PARENTS WOULD PART FIRST 5 YEARS OF LIFE | 15 PERCENT RISK PARENTS WOULD PART FIRST 5 YEARS OF LIFE |
EMPIRICAL QUESTION:
Is there any evidence that religion is playing a role in encouraging a strong family orientation among contemporary American men? More specifically, how are religious tradition and attendance linked to marital quality and stability, nonmarital childbearing and parental involvement and affection—all key indicators that tap the degree to which men are investing in their families?
[Quix: The globalists knew this a long time ago; as did any thinking person. Therefore, they came up with their many decades long designed and implemented multi-pronged attack on the family and on Christianity to shred our culture and society—making it easier to install their satanic global government.]
| MARRIED MEN 18-55 YRS OLD who attend services regularly (several times a month or more) | RARELY ATTENDING TO NEVER ATTENDING HUSBANDS> |
| 70 PERCENT are “very happy” in their marriages | 69 PERCENT are “very happy” in their marriages |
| REGULAR ATTENDING WIVES | WIVES RARELY-NEVER ATTENDING |
| 59 PERCENT | 57 PERCENT |
. . . analysis of the 1992-1994 wave of the NSFH [study] indicates that churchgoing was only associated with marital happiness for women when they attended church with their husbands. In addition, a study of urban relationships found that men’s religious attendance was a better predictor of woman’s relationship satis faction than women’s own religious attendance.
| CHURCH GOING Mainline Prottys | CHURCH GOING Evangelical Prottys | CHURCH GOING RC’S | NON-CHURCH GOING PEERS |
| 70% |
| MARRIED CHURCH GOING BLACK PROTTYS | BLACKS WHO RARELY TO NEVER ATTEND |
| 58% VERY HAPPY in marriages | 46% VERY HAPPY in marriages |
| MARRIED RC’S--CHURCH GOING LATINOS | MARRIED PROTTY LATINOS | LATINOS RARELY-NEVER ATTEND |
| 50% VERY HAPPY | 52% VERY HAPPY | 47% VERY HAPPY |
Americans who attend religious services are less likely to divorce than Americans who do not.
| MOTHERS ATTENDING MONTHLY OR LESS | MOTHERS ATTENDING AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK |
| 34% HAD CHILD OUT OF WEDLOCK | 25% HAD A CHILD OUT OF WEDLOCK |
| REG CHURCH-GOING DADS | NON-ATTENDING DADS |
| 65% MORE likely to report PRAISING & HUGGING CHILDREN VERY OFTEN | THAN UNAFFILIATED DADS |
Thus, the findings reported in this brief also suggest that religion fosters an intensive and affectionate style of parenting among U.S. fathers who live with their children; fathers who attend church regularly are also more likely to devote time, attention, and affection to their children, compared to fathers who are not integrated into a religious community. In other words, religious fathers come closer to approximating the “new father” ideals of involvement and affection than do more secular fathers, or fathers who are nominally religious.
[QX: It is quite logical given the above, that ATTACHMENT DISORDER would be less common because of cold, distant, harsh, absent, &/or abusive fathers amongst the regular services attenders. Perhaps there’s some research I could find on that.]
| CHURCH GOING Mainline Prottys | CHURCH GOING Evangelical Prottys | CHURCH GOING RC’S | NON-CHURCH GOING PEERS |
| 70% | 69% | 60% | 60% |
I added the “duh” keyword.
. . . analysis of the 1992-1994 wave of the NSFH [study] indicates that churchgoing was only associated with marital happiness for women when they attended church with their husbands. In addition, a study of urban relationships found that men’s religious attendance was a better predictor of woman’s relationship satisfaction than women’s own religious attendance.
| CHURCH GOING Mainline Prottys | CHURCH GOING Evangelical Prottys | CHURCH GOING RC’S | NON-CHURCH GOING PEERS |
| 70% SATISFIED IN RELATIONSHIP | 69% SATISFIED IN RELATIONSHIP | 60% SATISFIED IN RELATIONSHIP | 60% SATISFIED IN RELATIONSHIP |
I have had this conversation in the past with non-Christian women, who take the verses about wives being submissive to their husbands, as husbands are allowed to be dictators....I try to tell them, that if they would also read how husbands are suppose to treat their wives they would all be looking for a Christian husband, but alas it falls on deaf ears.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.